Under section Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000,, the government has the right to block Social Media accounts in the country
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a written reply on Wednesday clarified that there is no plan to link Social Media accounts with Aadhaar. He also stated that Aadhaar data is completely secure and it is audited from time to time.
Under section Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government has the right to block Social Media accounts in the country in matters of public interest. The government blocked 633 URL'S in 2016, 1385 in 2017, 2799 in 2018, and 3433 in 2019.
Ravi Shankar Prasad was also asked about threat to privacy posed by Israeli spyware on WhatsApp targetting Indian journalists and human rights activists by All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Assaduddin Owaisi. He answered that the government has taken cognizance of the fact that the spyware tried to hack the mobile phones of 121 individuals in India.
He said that he asked Facebook-owned company Whatsapp to provide a detailed report of the alleged breach of privacy, adding that it wants to bring a bill for private data security of citizens.
Earlier, at a Zee News' India Ka DNA Conclave, Prasad had said, "There are 121 crore mobile phones in India if there is anything wrong we will take action."
Ravi Shankar Prasad also dismissed media reports suggesting that the government was behind the cyberattack on Indian journalists and activists.
Earlier the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a stern warning to those spreading rumours about the government in this regard, the Home Ministry said, ''Some statements have appeared based on reports in media regarding breach of privacy of Indian citizens on WhatsApp. Attempts to malign government for reported breach are completely misleading. The government will take action against any intermediary for breach of privacy.''
WhatsApp has already filed a case against the Israeli firm - NSO Group - at a US Federal Court alleging the malicious cyberattacks with the spyware 'Pegasus', claiming the firm installed spyware on users' phones and targeted human rights defenders, journalists, political dissidents, diplomats and government officials.
WhatsApp accused the NSO Group of sending malware to roughly 1,400 mobile phones for ''surveillance.''
The Israeli firm, which makes software for surveillance, has rejected these allegations.
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