SC Issues Notice to Centre, Twitter After Plea Seeking Mechanism to Check Fake News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to both the Centre and Twitter after a petition was filed, seeking directions to the government to develop a mechanism to check fake news and hate messages, instigative content on the microblogging website and other social media platforms.

The plea, filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinit Goenka, stated that Twitter was being used for "creating panic in certain sections of the society, challenging the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India, according to reports.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Dubey, appearing on behalf of the BJP leader, submitted that the petition also sought directions to the Centre to devise a mechanism to identify advertisements and paid content on Twitter and other social networking platforms that seek to incite hate and violence.

The plea said that in the absence of a mechanism or a law to check online content, social media platforms have been used by some persons to "amplify and call out" for activities that are against the spirit of the Union of India.

The BJP leader's plea further said that Twitter "knowingly promotes" messages which are against Indian laws. Hence, the algorithms used by company should be vetted by the government or any other competent authority, for screening "anti-India tweets", it said.

The plea further said that there are hundreds of fake Twitter and fake Facebook accounts in the name of eminent people and high dignitaries. Political parties use fake social media accounts for self-promotion and image building and to tarnish the image of opponents and contesting candidates, especially during the elections, the plea added.

The plea also stated the total number of Twitter handles in India is around 35 million and total number of Facebook accounts is 350 million and experts say that around 10% Twitter handles and 10% Facebook accounts "are duplicate/bogus/fake".

A Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde issued notice on the petition and instructed that the matter be tagged with similar pending petitions that seek social media regulation.

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