Aadhaar-social media linking: 10 things to know about the ongoing issue
India TodayThe Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court earlier this week that social media profiles of users should be linked with their Aadhaar numbers to keep a check on the spread of fake news, pornographic and anti-national content, among other things. -- Attorney General KK Venugopal appeared for the Tamil Nadu government in the Supreme Court to stress the need for Aadhaar-social media linking to keep a check on the spread of fake news and anti-national content on platforms like Facebook and Facebook-owned services like WhatsApp. -- The Tamil Nadu government is seeking Aadhaar-social media linking after two private citizens, Antony Clement Rubin and Janani Krishnamurthy, filed PILs for authentication of identity. -- The Tamil Nadu government is in agreement that Aadhaar-social media linking is needed to keep a check on the spread of fake news, something that has plagued WhatsApp in recent years. -- The way it stands right now is that some High Courts are in favour of Aadhaar-social media linking while some aren't, which is why Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Kapil Sibal who are representing social media platforms have moved the Supreme Court to make a final decision that would apply uniformly across India.