Government working on law to regulate social media, Ram Madhav

Emphasizing the influence of social media, BJP leader Ram Madhav claimed that it is so powerful that it can even topple governments, which then leads to anarchy and weakening democracy, according to the Minister. He also claimed that the solutions to tackle this are needed to be found within the constitutional framework.

The minister made the statement at the launch of his new book ‘Because India Comes First’. Madhav further claimed that democracy is stressed and it is facing new challenges in the form of “non-political” and “non-state” forces.

“Social media is so powerful that it can even topple governments and regulating them is difficult as they are borderless. These forces can promote anarchy, which will weaken democracy but solutions should be within the constitutional framework,” he said at the event hosted by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation on Saturday evening.

The existing laws are not adequate for this, he said.

“We require new rules and laws to tackle and manage. The government is already working in this direction,” he added.

The comment from the minister comes at a time when the government is at loggerheads with social media platform Twitter which was recently rebuked at by Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for treating US Capitol Riots in a different manner compared to the Red Fort breach on Republic Day.

Madhav’s comments come amid a row between the government and Twitter over blocking of accounts with Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking the micro-blogging site to follow the Indian law.

The Supreme Court has also issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter on a plea, seeking to regulate hate content and to make a law as per which action can be initiated against Twitter and their representatives in India for willfully abetting and promoting anti-India tweets and penalise them. Livemint