'If social media is used to spread fake news, we will have to take action against it': Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, has stated that the Government will take action against social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn if they don't curb the spread of fake news. 

 

In his address during the Rajya Sabha session, Prasad added that these social media networks will have to follow the rules of the land in India. 

 

This follows Twitter's statement on 10 February, which claimed that it agreed to permanently suspend over 500 accounts that the Government said made inflammatory remarks about Narendra Modi around his administration’s handling of the farmers’ protests over the last four months. 

 

Through a blog post, Twitter said the Government wanted accounts to be taken down for criticising the Government, but Twitter stood its ground on the basis of free speech. Twitter's statement added that it succumbed to suspending the accounts after the Indian Government threatened prison for local employees on the grounds of noncompliance.