IT Minister Prasad asks social media firms to maintain constitutional sanctity

Soon after assuming charge of the IT Ministry, Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday sent a strong message to social media firms asking them to maintain constitutional sanctity and guard against misuse of their platforms for acts of terrorism and communalism. Prasad - known for taking a firm stance on social media misuse in the past - said, "While we all respect freedom of speech and expression that is sacrosanct for us and part of the constitutional guarantee, but that is also subject to reasonable restriction."

The IT Ministry, last year, began work on tightening rules for social media and online companies, for which it held wide public consultations. The minister further said that data protection legislation will be high on government priority, but did not specify whether it will be taken up in the upcoming Parliament session. The first session of the newly-elected Lok Sabha has been convened from June 17 to July 26.

(With inputs from agencies.)