The Narendra Modi government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has abandoned its plan to set up a Social Media Communication Hub (SMCH) to track and monitor social media platforms to identify "buzz creators". The Modi government also said it would undertake a complete review of its social media policy.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal informed a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the Modi government was withdrawing the proposal. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud were the other members of the bench.
The Centre gave this information in response to a petition by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra for stalling the proposed move of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to keep a tab on social media platforms.
In July, the Supreme Court had taken strong exception to the Modi government's plans to create a social media hub for monitoring online data. During its hearing on the matter, the bench observed that creating such a social media hub was “like creating a surveillance state".
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for Moitra, said the Modi government had issued request for proposal and the tender will be opened on August 20. "They want to monitor social media content with the help of this social media hub," Singhvi said.
The counsel for Moitra had said the Modi government was trying to monitor the social media content of individuals by tracking their social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and their e-mails.