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The Indian government has said that it does not mandate use of any particular social media platform — indigenous or foreign— and citizens, including policy-makers, are free to use any platform.
Replying to a query from a fellow parliamentarian whether there was a proposal to direct council of ministers to adopt indigenously developed social media platform like Koo and Sandesh to encourage their use, Sanjay Dhotre, junior minister for Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (Meity), said, “No, Sir.”
The minister, who was replying to questions in Rajya Sabha or Upper House of Parliament on Thursday, went on to add that all government departments had the freedom to decide with regard to usage of social media apps to connect with citizens and share relevant government information.
Asked whether the security features of indigenous SM apps were up to date, Dhotre said such apps “developed under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (self reliant India) ensure that they host data in servers that are in India and are required to comply with best of data and information security standards”.
According to the minister, all such indigenous apps get security audit done regularly in order to ensure security of data and information.
‘BANNING IS NOT THE INTENT’: To another question on whether there was a proposal to ban foreign social media platforms that don’t maintain servers in India, Dhotre informed his colleague in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) on Thursday that the government had no such intention.
“It is not the intent of the Government to curb Facebook or any other social media apps. The objective has been to ensure compliance to all Indian laws and regulations and to prevent misuse and abuse,” the minister said.
The government has amended and notified new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in February 2021 and is constantly working to create safer spaces in social media for Indian users, Dhotre said.
Tags: #Koo #Sandesh #socialmedia #Meity #AtmaNirbharBharat #Facebook
