Certain Influencers Working Against Nation: Parl Panel

The Parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology has reportedly sought details from two union ministries regarding “contemplated action” against online influencers and social media platforms who “seem to be working against national interest” in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Sources told news agency PTI that the panel has directed the information and broadcasting ministry (MIB) and IT ministry to submit details regarding planned “action” under IT Act 2000 and Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 by May 8. 

As per the report, the committee underscored that the social media handles in question were working against the interests of the country, which could likely incite violence. 

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress member of Parliament and a member of the panel Saket Gokhale said that he has not received any communication regarding the memorandum. 

“To make it clear — the Parliament IT Committee has not said this. As a member, I have neither received any communication nor have I signed anything saying this… Under Parliamentary Rules, a Chairman cannot issue any letter he wants without seeking approval of the committee. Parliamentary Committees are sacrosanct and should not be hijacked for political agendas,” Gokhale said in a post on X.

This comes two weeks after 28 civilians, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists in Pahalgam on April 22. The aftermath saw the Centre ban social media accounts of multiple Pakistani celebrities. 

While no formal statement was issued regarding the rationale for block order, reports suggested that the directions were part of a broader digital and diplomatic response following the attack. 

Prior to this, the government also blocked access to 16 Pakistani YouTube channels including news outlets such as Dawn News, Geo News, ARY News, and Samaa TV as well as personal channels run by Shoaib Akhtar and podcaster Shehzad Ghias. 

A source told news agency ANI that the action on YouTube channels was taken on the directions of the home affairs ministry due to concerns about the dissemination of “provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation” directed against India and its security forces.

The latest development also came hours after a report emerged that cyber security experts and security agencies were actively monitoring the Indian cyberspace to quickly identify and mitigate any future risks posed by cyber attackers. 

This followed a post by a social media handle ‘Pakistan Cyber Force’ claiming to have gained access to sensitive information from the Indian Military Engineering Service and Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA). The Pakistani handle claimed to have compromised 10 GB of personal data related to 1,600 defence persons, including their login credentials.