Govt monitoring social media accounts of citizens since 2016, reveals RTI

The information and broadcasting ministry's social media communication hub analysed citizens' accounts, posts and sentiments on social media much before its plans came under Supreme Court scrutiny

In August this year, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting withdrew a tender through which it wanted to hire an agency to monitor social media accounts of citizens. This was after the Supreme Court warned the plan could lead to India becoming a “surveillance state”. According to the tender, floated in April, the government wanted to contract an agency to monitor social media posts of citizens, including their historical conversations and emails, to gauge their opinions about government policies, and target them with personalised messages to promote positive opinions about government schemes.

A Right to Information (RTI) application now