Government Asks Social Media Firms To Disclose Users' Identities

By Kunwar Kunal
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Companies such as Facebook, Google, and ByteDance Inc will now have to disclose Users' Identities if the Indian government seeks an inquiry. If this becomes an approved case by the companies, as many as 400 million Indian users could lose the concealment. The set of new rules is expected to get published by the government, later this month. And, the rules will further clarify why the Indian officials are adamant on taking such actions.

 
Government Asks Social Media Firms To Disclose Users' Identities

While the government is prepping for the launch of the journal, an official of electronics & information technology said that they wouldn't be commenting on the rules or instructions until the journal get published.
As we know, the government blames social media platforms for allowing the circulation of unwanted content.

The content varies from fake news to terrorism, or child molestations to racist remarks, and more. And, when this fake news circulates, there's a certain amount of turbulence that disrupts people's normal lives. India has cleared that it just needs the companies to work in spirit, and has assured it won't issue any warrant against the culprits, until knowing the extent of the crime committed.

 

It was December 2018, when India had put forward the guidelines to the companies offering social media platforms. But then the Internet and Mobile Association of India quoted that the act could infringe the privacy right of the individuals, acknowledged by the Supreme Court.

In earlier provisions, Indian officials urged social media companies to keep them updated about the origins of posts within a time-frame of 72 hours. These companies were also asked to keep the records related to unwanted posts saved for a minimum of 180 days, to help investigators in cracking the cases.

After the announcement by the government, a couple of companies have shown displeasure. WhatsApp stands in contradiction to the officials, in disclosing users' identity. Instead, it said that it will be introducing industry-leading technology, to provide highly protected end-to-end encrypted messages. Companies such as Mozilla Corp, GitHub Inc., and Cloudflare Inc. have also cited that these guidelines will be affecting the fundamental right to privacy of the users.

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