Karnataka Home Minister announces plan to introduce new cyberlaw to counter fake news
Bengaluru: Karnataka's Home Minister G Parameshwara announced on Tuesday that the state government is planning to introduce a new cyberlaw to tackle the dissemination of fake news and hate speech on social media. The proposed legislation aims to hold the country heads of social media platforms accountable for the content shared through their platforms.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah echoed the sentiments of the Home Minister during a statement in Mangaluru, stating that strict actions will be taken against individuals involved in defaming others and spreading false information on social media.
To facilitate the formulation of the new law, a panel of experts from the home, information technology, and cybercrime prevention departments will be formed. This panel will provide recommendations on the nature and scope of the proposed law, based on which the legislation will be drafted.
Parameshwara expressed concerns over the challenges in dealing with cybercriminals, particularly those who operate from offshore locations. Punishing these perpetrators becomes difficult as they take advantage of their remote locations to post fake news on social media. Furthermore, social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, do not always comply with the government's requests to control the spread of false information.
To address these challenges, the proposed cyberlaw will hold the country heads of social media platforms responsible for the content available on their platforms. By making them accountable, the government believes it can effectively curb the dissemination of fake news and hate speech to a significant extent.
The Home Minister emphasized that the government is taking the issue of fake news and rumors targeting the state government, the chief minister, and other ministers on social media seriously. In response, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is planning to hold a meeting with representatives of major social media platforms to discuss the matter.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
