“If every tweet, whatsapp is monitored, we’ll be moving towards a surveillance state” DY Chandrachud J.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a PIL filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra challenging the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s proposed move to monitor social media movements..This PIL had come before a vacation bench of the Supreme Court on June 18, when the Court had said that it was a matter that ought to be heard after vacation..Today, this PIL came up before a Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud. The petitioner was represented by Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Advocate Mohammad Nizam Pasha..The Broadcasting Engineering Consultants India Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), had invited bids and proposals for selection of an agency to set up a Social Media Communication Hub by the I&B Ministry..A 360° evaluation of the social media movements of the public is sought to be conducted at a district level by this hub. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc are sought to be tracked to identify the “buzz creators” and social media influencers. The monitoring of social media activity will be used for categorising individuals as ‘positive’, ‘negative’ et al based on the content shared or put out..Justice Chandrachud observed that if the government was seeking to monitor every single tweet and WhatsApp message that is sent, “we’ll be moving towards becoming a surveillance state”..The tender invited in this regard closes on August 20 and bearing this in mind, the Court has fixed the next date of hearing on August 3. The Court has also issued notice to the I&B Ministry and sought the Attorney General’s assistance in this matter..Read the Petition: