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In what could trigger privacy concerns among free speech advocates at home and overseas, social media platforms will be compelled to reveal identities of their users under the new government rules set to be published later this month.
The new rules governing social media could affect approximately 40 crore Indians who have accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and TikTok, according to an exclusive report published in Bloomberg on Thursday.
The news report quotes officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as they confirmed to the publication that the changes will be published before the end of February. The news article further notes that the rules could breach on the Right to Privacy, as highlighted by industry associations when they were first proposed back in Dec 2018.
According to Bloomberg, India’s guidelines for social media usage would demand unflinching cooperation from social media platforms, without any warrant or judicial order. The rules could be harsher that are in place in other countries, the report has also noted.
