Social media to face strict action over fake news: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: The Indian government will take “strict action” against companies if social media is allowed to be misused for fanning violence, spreading fake news and creating disharmony in the country, union minister for electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad told Parliament on Thursday.

India is open to criticism but strict action will be taken if companies do not control fake news — be it Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or WhatsApp, he said.

“You can work in India, have crores of followers, we respect that. You can earn money here but you will have to follow the government’s laws and India’s Constitution,” Prasad said in his first public comments following the government’s standoff with Twitter over blocking access to accounts that are allegedly spreading misinformation on the farmer protests on the microblogging platform that could be harmful.