The Supreme Court today dismissed the Centre's proposal to set up social media monitoring hubs. Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Centre's move, the apex court said, "We seem to be moving towards a surveillance state." The petition was filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra.
"The government wants to tap citizens' WhatsApp messages. It will be like creating a surveillance state," a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.
The petitioner said that the Centre's move to set up social media monitoruing hubs was a violation of Right to Privacy, declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court last year.
Reuters
These hubs would be tools to snoop on individuals, claimed the petition.
The Supreme Court sought has issued a notice to the Centre and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has two weeks' time to respond on the matter.
According to a report by India Today, Mahua Moitra said that the Centre's move to monitor social media would give it access to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and email accounts of individuals. This is a blatant violation of the right to privacy, she said.
She added that the government would be in position to look into the personal information of individuals and also state government's data upto district level.