The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Union government and Twitter India on a plea seeking a mechanism for regulating content and advertisements spreading hatred through fake news and instigative messages via bogus accounts. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notices to the Union government and Twitter Communication India Pvt Ltd on the plea filed by one Vinit Goenka, a BJP leader, which said that there are hundreds of fake Twitter handles and bogus Facebook accounts in the name of eminent people and high dignitaries.
According to LiveLaw, the plea says that Twitter is being used to “call upon separatists, creating panic in some sections of the society, challenging the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India”. The plea, filed in May 2020, further adds that it wants an order that directs for a mechanism to be formed to check “contents and advertisements which are spreading hatred amongst the communities, seditious, instigative, separatist, hate filled, divisive against the society at large and against the spirit of the Union of India”.
"Twitter and social media companies are profit making companies and expecting them to have safeguards for making social media safe and secure is important. The logic and algorithms that Twitter uses should be shared and vetted by Indian government authorities or competent authority for screening anti-India tweets", it adds.
Advocate Ashwini Dubey, appearing for Goenka, said directions are needed for establishing a mechanism to regulate hateful content on the social networking site. The bench said that it is issuing notice in the matter and tagging the plea with other pending matters.
The plea filed through Dubey said, “These fake Twitter handles and Facebook accounts use real photos of constitutional authorities and eminent citizens. Therefore, the common man relies upon the messages published from these Twitter handles and Facebook accounts.”
The PIL said that fake news is the root cause of many riots, including the one in Delhi earlier this year, and bogus accounts are used to promote casteism and communalism which endangers fraternity and unity of the country.
It is submitted that presently 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 (3.5 million) and 10% Facebook accounts (35 million) are duplicate/bogus/fake, the plea said.
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 submitted. The plea has also sought directions to make a law as per which an action can be initiated against Twitter and their representatives in India for “willfully abetting and promoting” anti-India tweets and penalising them.
The petition further said that a representation to the authority concerned to act in accordance with the law of the country against social media giant Twitter was filed but no action has been taken so far by the authorities concerned.
It also pointed out that the Ministry of Home Affairs has banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) under the Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act on July 10, 2019, yet it continues to have an active presence on Twitter and allegedly espouses hatred, terrorism and sedition, criminal acts.
“The logic and algorithms that Twitter uses should be shared and vetted by Indian government authorities or competent authority for screening anti-India tweets... KYC of all social media handles in India must be conducted for making social media safe and accountable and traceable,” the plea said.