IT Minister Ravi Shankar has warned social media companies against misusing user’s data to influence upcoming 2019 elections, saying that it would no longer be tolerated.
Moreover, the government is also looking forward to Justice Srikrishna Committee report on data protection and law. Speaking in the context, Prasad added,
“We won’t tolerate misuse of data to influence elections. While the data of Indians has to be protected at any cost, India should also develop itself as a hub for data analysis.”
The statement from IT Ministry comes in the wake of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal wherein data of 5.62 lakh Indian users was compromised among 87 Mn global users.
Denouncing such misuse of data, the minister vehemently proclaimed,
In the wake of the recent data theft from Facebook, let my stern warning be heard across the Atlantic, far away in California. Any covert or overt attempt to misuse social media, including Facebook, to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will neither be tolerated nor be permitted.
The minister also informed that government has already taken up the issue with Facebook whereby the CEO has apologised.
The IT Minister also talked about a lot of issues such as triple talaq law and extradition of Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi and said, “We will not spare anyone, irrespective of their stature. Mallya was a member of the Rajya Sabha when he did the vanishing act. We are strengthening the law. We brought Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018. Congress opposed it, we brought an ordinance.”