13NOIDA, Oct 12: Misinformation is a “dangerous phenomenon” which has been exploited by other countries and the enemies of India to create social division and unrest, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said today when asked about the government’s action on news portal NewsClick.
He said internet platforms need to be “extra” careful and ensure that citizens who consume information from online sources are not misled, provoked or incited by people deliberately propagating misinformation against India and Indians.
The Centre has resolved to make the internet “safe and trustworthy” for Indian users, the minister of state for information technology also said.
He made the remarks during his visit to the launch of the sixth edition of ‘Infinity 2023’, the annual technology conference of private Amity University, Noida.
Chandrasekhar said currently, 83 crore Indians are using the internet and by 2025-26, this number would rise to 125 crore with people using it for work, to avail information, subsidies, pension, run start-ups etc.
“Our government has resolved that as the number of internet users grows in the country, our priority is to keep the internet safe and trustworthy for our digital citizens,” he told reporters.
“This also includes cybercrime, misinformation and CSAM (child sexual abuse material). Recently, we cracked down on CSAM because a lot of material about child pornography was on platforms and we warned them clearly of zero tolerance. We will not allow any such platforms to work in India and block them if they don’t clean up such material from their platforms,” Chandrasekhar said.
Asked about the government action on news portal NewsClick, he said misinformation is a “dangerous phenomenon” which has been exploited by other countries and enemies of India to create social division and unrest.
“It ranks in our framework as equally dangerous, equally criminal and equally harmful content for platforms to curate and moderate. We have already put this under IT rules and the IT Act. These are the areas that the platforms need to take extra care to ensure that our citizens who consume information on internet are not misled, provoked or incited in any manner by people who are deliberately propagating misinformation against India and Indians,” the minister said.
Chandrasekhar said the vision presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘new India’ provides the youth with a lot of opportunities.
He said the coming decade belongs to the country. “The youth have a key contribution in our resolve for new India, developed India,” Chandrasekhar added.
The Delhi Police has arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and human resources department head Amit Chakravarty in a case lodged under anti-terror law Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act.
The arrests were made last week after the Delhi Police Special Cell raided journalists and other staff of NewsClick over alleged illegal funding from China.
Asked about the Enforcement Directorate’s action on Vivo and Lava, the minister said that “we are very concerned” about it and “we don’t know all the facts” about it.
“Lava is an Indian champion in the very important and growing smartphone segment, where India is becoming one of the world’s largest producers of smartphones. Lava is a brand that we hold as a very important participant in the ecosystem. While I don’t know all the facts but I hope this is rapidly looked into and the right thing is done by Lava and Mr Hari Om Rai who is the hardworking promoter of Lava,” he said.
The ED on Tuesday arrested four persons, including the managing director of Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national, in connection with a money laundering probe against smartphone-maker Vivo, with sources terming their activities detrimental to India’s economic sovereignty. (PTI)
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