The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued an advisory on Saturday directing social media intermediaries like Elon Musk-headed X and Meta to ensure due diligence and promptly remove misinformation amid the hoax bomb threats. On Friday, over 20 flights of various airlines reportedly received bomb threats. In its advisory, the IT ministry said the hoax bomb threats are mostly misinformation that disrupts the public order, operations of airlines and security of airline travellers.
What the advisory says
The IT Ministry said “Considering the serious nature of the situation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reminds with emphasis that all the intermediaries including social media intermediaries must make reasonable efforts to disallow such malicious acts including hoax bomb threats from being disseminated on their platforms.”
It further states that the intermediaries including social media intermediaries must observe their due diligence obligations that include the prompt removal or disabling access to such unlawful information specified under the IT Rules, 2021, including hoax bomb threats, well within the strict timelines as prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021.
“Considering the serious nature of the situation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reminds with emphasis that all the intermediaries including social media intermediaries must make reasonable efforts to disallow such malicious acts including hoax bomb threats from being disseminated on their platforms,” the advisory states.