Supreme Court had raised the fear that it may create a surveillance state

Highlights

• A proposal to have hubs to monitor social media traffic and trends has been withdrawn, the Union government informed the Supreme Court
• The hearing was based on a petition filed by Trinamool, who had alleged that the government’s proposal for a “social media communication hub” was a “brazen attempt at mass surveillance”.
• “The proposed social media communication hub seeks to create a technology architecture that merges mass surveillance with a capacity for disinformation,”
• The petition had said the aim of the hub was to “create a technology platform “to collect digital media chatter from all core social media platforms as well as digital platforms”.

Source: The Hindu