On July 5, during interaction with media at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad, Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that rapid work was underway to make social media accountable not only in India but at a global level. His remarks came amid the reports of Twitter approaching the Karnataka High Court against ‘take-down’ notices by the Government of India.
#WATCH | An ecosystem, thought process that social media should be held accountable, is spreading in our country as well as globally…Rapid work underway on how to make it accountable: Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to ANI pic.twitter.com/vQ2VjleVzK
— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2022
He said, “Social media is a very powerful medium. It has a powerful impact on our lives. How it should be held accountable has become a valid question across the globe. The countries and societies are moving in the direction that it is essential to hold social media accountable. How can it be done? It has to start with self-regulation. Remove the content on our own that can have a harmful impact on society. Then comes the industry regulation, followed by the government regulation. An ecosystem, thought process that social media should be held accountable, is spreading in our country as well as globally.”
#WATCH | “Be it any company, in any sector, they should abide by the laws of India. This is the responsibility of everyone to abide by the laws passed by the Parliament,” says Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. pic.twitter.com/QPNhTpErY8
— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2022
Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, “Be it any company, in any sector, it should abide by the laws of India. It is everyone’s responsibility to abide by the laws passed by the Parliament.”
He further stated that the content creators like news portals should get a share of the revenue generated by social media companies from their content.
Twitter approached Karnataka High Court against GoI take-down orders
On Tuesday, the microblogging website Twitter approached Karnataka High Court against some of the take-down orders issued by the Government of India, stating those orders did not fulfil the procedural requirements as per the IT Act. The government of India has not issued any statement particular to the reports of the plea submitter by Twitter in the High Court.
