Bots, unregulated use of algorithms are threats to safe and trusted internet: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar believes that the lack of safety on internet is due to bots and unregulated use of algorithms, among other things.

Chandrasekhar in a tweet on September 8, also said that "platforms who ignore their legal responsibilities of due diligence and permits illegal activities and misinformation" were threat to 'safe and trusted internet'.

The minister said this in response to a Reuters report which said that Disney found 'substantial' fake Twitter users in 2016.

This also holds significance because in the current legal battle that is going on between the Indian government and Twitter at Karnataka High Court, the Centre, stressed that the accounts which were blocked were unverified -- that it was unclear whether they were  fake, bots or being operated by Indian citizens.

Twitter had approached court seeking relief from 39 blocking orders issued by MeitY under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000.

Outside the country, the issue of bots on Twitter has proven to be a "deal-breaker", with billionaire Elon Musk refusing to go ahead with his plan to buy Twitter, saying the microblogging platform was not sharing the real number of bots and actual accounts.

Meanwhile, this is also the latest in the line of criticism that has been levied by Chandrasekhar on internet platforms in response to current controversies surrounding them.

Recently, when cricketer Arshdeep Singh's Wikipedia page was vandalised to maliciously brand him as a Khalistani, Chandrasekhar warned that no intermediary operating in India can allow misinformation and deliberate efforts to incite citizens.

He also later warned Wikipedia that to remain an intermediary in the country, the platform has to be remain consistent with the country's goal of 'Safe and Trusted Internet'.

The IT ministry is looking at a 'complete overhaul' of the country's cyber laws and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said that the government was going to introduce the proposed new version of the Data Protection bill and amendment to the IT Act 2000, known as the Digital India Act, to make 'the online world more accountable for what is being published'.

In the next few days, the Union government is going to come out with the amendments to the IT Rules, Chandrasekhar said in an event on September 7.

In the proposed amendment to the IT Rules 2021, government-established grievance appellate committees were proposed because the Centre felt that the current grievance redressal mechanism was not working properly.

However, the ministry clarified later that it was also open to the formation of an industry-established self regulatory body.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the industry and the Indian government had been exploring the idea of establishing internal appellate committees at intermediaries, not just grievance appellate committees or a self regulatory body.