Citing Lack Of Action By Online Platforms, Supreme Court Directs Centre To Frame Guidelines On Social Media Misuse 

Observing that the misuse of the social media is on a major upswing across India, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (24 September) directed the Centre to apprise it about a time frame within three weeks under which the government could come up with guidelines to tackle the issue, reports The Indian Express.

Expressing concern over the inability or the unwillingness of some social media platforms to trace the original source of messages, the bench comprising of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose pressed that the government must step in and take action on the matter.

The two-judge bench underscored that no one could be allowed to get away withthe excuse that there doesn't exit the technology to track the originators of an online crime. The bench opined, "If there is a technology to do it, then there is a technology to stop it."

The bench also said that given the scientific nature of the issue, the top court, and any other high court were not competent to decide a solution to the problem, and therefore it is for the government to come up with the apt guidelines in this regard.