Govt drops Social Media Hub plan on snoop charge

The Government has withdrawn its ambitious scheme to set up a Social Media Communication Hub (SMCH) in every district after the Supreme Court, hearing a PIL against the proposed move, recently commented that the decision was aimed at creating a “surveillance State”.

Although the request for proposal (RFP) to start the hub was floated on April 24, 2018, tenders were to be invited  by August 20. But in a sudden U-turn, Attorney General KK Venugopal appeared before a Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Friday to announce the withdrawal of the scheme, along with the RFP, and related circulars.

Seen as a State-sponsored tool to pry on citizens and invade their privacy, the proposal floated by the Government’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting was challenged in a PIL filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra.

The Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, recorded the submission of Venugopal, who stated the Government’s stand that the entire scheme will be reviewed in its entirety before a new scheme is brought out.

The hub aimed to create a technology platform to collect “digital media chatter” from all social media platforms as well as digital platforms. The RFP disclosed the hub will help facilitate creation of a 360 degree view of the people who are creating buzz across various platforms and topics.

The data collection would extend even to email. In addition, the petition filed by advocate Nizam Pasha and argued by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pointed out that such a mechanism would provide specific capabilities to the Government to enable live search, monitoring, collection, indexing, and storage of personal data including location-based data and monitoring of social media user and accounts.

Based on the A-G’s submission, the Bench disposed off the petition without passing any directions. The petitioner claimed a great victory against the proposed move that infringed upon a citizen’s right to free speech and privacy protected under Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21 respectively.

Incidentally, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which runs the Aadhaar scheme has recently taken a decision to use a similar technological base at district level to appoint agents to monitor the social media and gather response/feedback on the Aadhaar scheme and its effectiveness. The RFP issued in this regard on July 18 has been challenged by way of a separate petition by Moitra and is likely to be taken up by Supreme Court next week. The UIDAI intends the new agency to serve as a “Social Listening Tool” to monitor conversations on social media platforms.