Need To Link Aadhar With Social Media Accounts To Check Fake News, TN Government Tells SC; Facebook Resists Suggestion

Tamil Nadu (TN) government’s suggestion that social media accounts can be linked to Aadhar numbers to check objectionable content was decried by social media giant Facebook, Mint has reported.

"The linking of social media profiles of the users with the Aadhaar was needed to check fake news, defamatory articles, pornographic materials, anti-national and terror contents in the online media,” said Attorney General K K Venugopal appearing on behalf of the TN government before the Supreme Court (SC).

Facebook, in its plea said that sharing the 12-digit unique number would violate users’ privacy. Facebook also said that they cannot share the number with a third party as the content was end-to-end encrypted and they don’t have access to it either.

Facebook also argued that similar cases were being heard in the Bombay, Madras and Madhya Pradesh High Courts and should be transferred to the Supreme Court. Venugopal however, argued against the suggestion.

"Different High Courts are making various observations and it will be better if all these cases are transferred to the Supreme Court, as all these PILs case have more or less same prayers," senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Facebook said.