New social media norms: Prasad assures widest possible talks

Mumbai: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday assured the government will have the widest possible consultations before formalising rules governing social media companies, but made it clear the sovereign has all the rights to bring in laws to better serve its people.

Comments come weeks after the government floated draft social media rules which seek to look at social media giants like Facebook and Twitter as intermediaries who carry data, causing a lot of concern among the industry and are reportedly planning to challenge the proposed rules.

“I don’t get bothered by the uncalled for campaigns. We’ll be fair, we’ll be objective but our sovereign right to frame rules and laws will always be there. We are a democracy, and we respect dissent. But the right of the government, with the widest consultation, to frame rules is a sovereign right, like in any other country,” the IT & law minister said.