Rajeev Chandrasekhar: EU’s GDPR more absolutist, not possible for us … our law will be clear on data misuse

Emphasising on the borderless nature of the Internet, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the future of Internet regulation will need a harmonisation between the democracies of the world. In an interview with Soumyarendra Barik, he spoke about the upcoming legislations for the online ecosystem, why India may not follow Europe on data protection, and the issue of bots and algorithmic accountability of social media companies. Edited excerpts:

You have said that a new set of laws for the online space including data protection and a new Information Technology Act will be out soon. What is the status of these laws?