New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday disapproved the Centre’s move to track social media and said letting one’s social media content tracked and regulated by the government would turn India into a “surveillance state”. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL filed by Trinamul Congress legislator Mahua Moitra challenging the move to set up a ‘Social Media Communication Hub’ (SMCH) and sought the assistance of the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to assist in this matter.
Under the proposed move by the ministry of information and broadcasting, the mechanism is to be made operational at the district-level for collecting and analysing digital and social media content. The counsel for Ms Moitra said that the government is trying to monitor social media content of individuals by tracking their social media accounts such as those on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and e-mails.
Appearing for Ms Moitra, A.M. Singhvi submitted that the move was completely violative of the right to privacy and would be invasive of the fundamental rights. Justice Chandrachud further observed, “The government wants to tap citizens WhatsApp messages. Tracking and regulating social media content will transform us into a surveillance state”.
