New Delhi: A day after the Centre announced new guidelines to curb misuse of social media platforms, reports on Friday claimed that all social media accounts will be verified with a government ID through mobile phones within 3 months. However, the Centre refuted such claims and issued a fresh clarification saying that users who want to verify their accounts voluntarily will be provided an appropriate mechanism to do so.
“Users who wish to verify their accounts voluntarily shall be provided an appropriate mechanism to verify their accounts and provided with demonstrable and visible mark of verification,” the government said in a statement.
#Claim
All social media accounts need to be verified with a Government ID through mobile phones within 3 months.#PIBFactCheck
This claim is Misleading. Verification of accounts is not mandatory.#Conclusion
Misleading— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) February 26, 2021
The development comes after the Centre on Thursday announced new set of guidelines to curb misuse of social media platforms, as it mandated firms to appoint grievance officer, disclose the first originator of the mischievous information and remove, within 24 hours, content depicting nudity or morphed pictures of women.
Giving details, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that concerns have been raised about the rampant abuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news and the government is bringing in a “soft touch” regulation.
As per the new guidelines from the Centre, social media intermediaries have to appoint grievance officer, who shall register complaints in 24 hours. Moreover, the grievance redressal official must be a resident in India, and monthly compliance reports will have to be filed by social media platforms.
Furthermore, the government said that the social media platforms on being asked by court or government will be required to disclose the first originator of the mischievous information.
Rumour: All social media accounts need to be verified with a Government ID through mobile phones within 3 months.
PIB Fact Check: This claim is Misleading. Verification of accounts is not mandatory.
Conclusion: Misleading
(India.com advises people not to fall prey to rumour mongering and do not spread unverified news on social media, which triggers panic among people.)