Centre wants fake news traced

The government has sought public comments on the proposed amendments to the Information Technology Act that seek to make it mandatory for platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter to trace “originator” of “unlawful” information, while also removing such content within 24 hours after being notified. As per the draft ‘The Information Technology 2018’ released on Monday, the intermediary after being notified by the appropriate authority should remove or disable access to unlawful content within 24 hours in the “interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, on its computer resource without vitiating the evidence in any manner…” Some key suggestions of the IT 2018 Provide info sought by any govt. agency within 72 hours Enable tracing the originator of information on the platform Disable access to unlawful acts within 24 hours of being notified Deploy automated tools to identify and disable access to unlawful content Report cyber security incidents with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team The intermediary is also expected to preserve such information and associated records for at least 180 days for investigation purposes as against 90 days now. Pointing that a number of lynching incidents were reported in 2018 mostly due to fake news being circulated through WhatsApp and other social media sites, the government said social media has brought new challenges for the law enforcement agencies, including inducement for recruitment of terrorists, circulation of obscene content, spread of disharmony and incitement to violence. The proposed rules state that intermediaries should within 72 hours, provide information or assistance asked for by any government agency “or assistance concerning security of the State or cyber security; or investigation or detection or prosecution or prevention of offence; protective or cyber security and matters connected with or incidental thereto.” This draft comes close on the heels of a recent Supreme Court order that gave a green signal to the government to frame guidelines or a standard operating procedure to deal with the publication and proliferation of sexually abusive online content like child pornography, rape and gang rape videos and objectionable material through social media intermediaries like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp.