NEW DELHI: A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday by a lawyer seeking directions to the Centre to constitute an expert committee to examine and curb the circulation of misleading and scandalous content on social media. The plea concerns material allegedly misrepresenting a foreign badminton event attended by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and other constitutional functionaries.
The PIL filed by lawyer Vishal Tiwari, sought a direction from the apex court to issue an order to the Centre to constitute an Independent Judicial Commission headed by a retired Judge of the SC, along with experts in Constitutional law, cyber security, artificial intelligence, digital forensics, child rights, psychology and information technology to examine, dissemination of false and manipulated digital narratives affecting constitutional institutions.
"Institutional safeguards for prompt identification and correction of demonstrably false information affecting constitutional governance. The impact of unrestricted social media exposure upon children below sixteen years. Age verification mechanisms and child protection safeguards for social media platforms. Measures to strengthen digital literacy and responsible online conduct," the plea said.
The petitioner sought directions to the Union government and other respondents to examine and frame a comprehensive constitutional and statutory framework governing responsible digital communication, user-generated online content, stand-up comedy programmes, podcasts, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence-generated content, in a manner consistent with Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.