IT Minister Ashwini Vaishanaw emphasises social media's role in child safety, algorithmic transparency
The Economic Times · ET Online ·
Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated that social media platforms must prioritise children's safety and accountability. He highlighted the courts and police as the current recourse for citizens facing online harms. The Supreme Court declared internet access a fundamental right for children, establishing the need for a national database against abusive content. Vaishnaw reinforced the importance of giving citizens a voice on these platforms for addressing grievances.
The minister emphasised the need for platforms to proactively protect society from online harms, including “digital arrest” scams, according to PTI.
The Union Minister’s comments came following a Supreme Court verdict declaring the right to use the internet as a fundamental right of children, directing the Centre to create a national database for detection of sexually explicit visuals depicting minors from digital platforms and their removal.
"Today, social media platforms must take the responsibility for child safety, for women's safety, for digital arrest, for the harms which come to the citizens, ...social media platforms must take proactive steps. Unlike the past, they must take proactive steps to make sure that our society is safe," said Vaishnaw.
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