Government To Track Social Media Accounts Soon

Government aims to track personal accounts, neutralize 'fake news'. As a part of the plan, the government wishes to track Twitter trends and hashtags. A survey says, most of the political parties across the globe and India too have multiple social media accounts. The team would identify 'fake posts' and disseminate news having 'positive slant for India'.

In a lengthy tender posted online , the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said it wants a company to provide analytical software and a team of at least 20 professionals to "power a real time New Media Command Room. They should capable to monitor Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Internet forums and even email in order to analyze sentiment, identify "fake news," disseminate information on behalf of the government and inject news and social media posts with a "positive slant for India," the tender said.

This proposed plan can be seen as another attempt by Modi government to curb 'fake news'. Under prime minister Narendra Modi’s administration, the ministries and cabinet ministers have been active on social media, tweeting new policies and interacting with citizens. But this tender suggests that Modi’s government now wants more powerful social media tools to shape a positive narrative about India and encourage nationalism among its citizens in the lead up to state and national elections.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, India’s ministries and cabinet ministers have been active on social media, tweeting new policies and interacting with citizens. But this tender suggests Modi’s government now wants more powerful social media tools to shape a positive narrative about India and encourage nationalism among its citizens in the lead up to state and national elections. With this each one has to be careful while posting any news/opinion into the social media, the think tank has to think on addressing on the fundamental rights to free speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

In India, where over 240 million people use Facebook ,20 crore individuals in whatsapp, itself and as the new law on data security is coming to force, you may see many amendments in data security policy. Like in Singapore, a parliamentary select committee recently held public hearings over the issue of imposing new restrictions on “fake news.” Here is a question mark, when all the social media companies are saying on end-to-end encryption,then how the newly formed tech team to monitor or intercept ?

Now another question comes to my mind, will there be any law to know the public, which political party has got how many social media accounts in Facebook, Twitter or any other similar social media websites to understand on how the political parties are digital friendly.