Don’t lecture India on freedom of speech, democracy: Ravi Shankar Prasad to social media firms

Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday asked social media platforms to not lecture India on “freedom of speech” and “democracy”, and asserted that if these “profit-making” firms want to earn money in India, they will have to follow the “Indian Constitution and Indian laws”.

Addressing a lecture on the topic ‘Social Media & Social Security’ and ‘Criminal Justice System Reforms: An Unfinished Agenda’ organized by Symbiosis International University as part of the Symbiosis Golden Jubilee Lecture Series, the minister said the new IT guidelines do not deal with the use of social media, but with the “abuse” and “misuse” of social media platforms.