"Imperialism Of Internet" By Few Firms Unacceptable, Says Union Minister

Speaking during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on the banning of Twitter accounts, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government welcomes dissent but cannot allow misuse or abuse of social media.

Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha today that any attempt to create "imperialism of internet" by a few companies would not be tolerated. Speaking during Question Hour on the banning of Twitter accounts, Mr Prasad said the government welcomes dissent but cannot allow misuse or abuse of social media. Replying to GC Chandrashekhar (Congress), who raised the issue of climate activist Disha Ravi's arrest in the toolkit document case, Mr Prasad said India is proud to have nearly 140 crore social media users. LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook are free to do business in India... they have empowered ordinary Indians, he said. "The government welcomes dissent. The issue is not of use of social media, the issue is of abuse and misuse of social media... Internet is a powerful invention of human mind, but it should not become the monopoly of few. And we have taken a position, any attempt to create imperialism of internet by few companies is not acceptable," the minister said.