New IT Rules: India Shall Not Compromise Its Digital Sovereignty Says Ravi Shankar Prasad
Mumbai: Union IT & Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India respects privacy, but “one has to give details when terror elements, anti-socials, anti-national are involved.”
In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India shall not compromise its digital sovereignty.
“All these social media giants make huge gains in India, have a huge presence, where common citizens, journalists, editors, businessmen are trolled. We respect criticism and anyone can criticize us as this is a part of our democracy. But our laws are important and India shall not compromise its digital sovereignty,” Prasad said on the pushback from the management of the microblogging site.
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He said that India is a democracy governed by the Constitution, laws, media and judiciary and Twitter should stop lecturing us on the benefits and merits of democracy.
Prasad is echoing the government’s newly framed social guidelines, which require social media companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter to do additional due diligence, including identifying the originator of a flagged message, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
While Google, Facebook and WhatsApp have shared details with the IT ministry as to the need for new digital rules, Twitter is still not following the norms, PTI reported late Friday night citing government sources.
Twitter has not sent details of the chief compliance officer to the IT Ministry, and shared details of a lawyer working in a law firm as a nodal contact person and grievance officer, the sources said.
Also Read: Google, FB, WhatsApp Share Details With IT Ministry; Twitter Yet To Follow
In response to a question on a charge of privacy violation, Prasad said, “There should be a redressal officer in India. They should learn to respect the Constitution of India, we respect privacy. You have to give the details only when the terrorist elements, antisocial, traitors are involved.”
The new rules, called ‘Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code’, came into effect from Wednesday for all social media platforms and digital news outlets.
These guidelines mandate all social media platforms to establish a grievance redressal and compliance mechanism, including the appointment of a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer, and a nodal contact person.
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology had also asked these platforms to submit monthly reports on complaints received from users and actions taken.
The third requirement which has been widely criticised for instant messaging apps was to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.
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