I&B Ministry
MIB social media monitoring cell tender deadline extended
NEW DELHI: The Big Brother has arrived? Well the Indian government, being accused of proposing to unleash a surveillance of citizens, has gone in for another extension of the deadline seeking vendors for technical and logistics help to set up such a center.
The new date for submitting proposals for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB)’s Social Media Communications Hub is now 18 June 2018, which is the third revision of the deadline since tender was floated earlier this year inviting proposals, enumerating wide-ranging deliverables.
Under criticism from a section of the civil society and online journalists and activists for this proposed over Rs. 400 million surveillance project, both MIB and BECIL (a unit under the ministry) have maintained a stoic silence.
The project, first reported by Indiantelevision.com in January 2018 and being undertaken under a seemingly harmless name of Social Media Communications Hub, however, has aims to monitor in real times not only the social media and online activities of Indian citizens, but also seeks to deploy technology to predict behavior and possible future actions of people. This, at a time when India doesn’t have strong data protection laws.
Amongst the many listed objectives of the media hub is this: “What would be the headlines and breaking news of various channels and newspapers across the globe— could be done with knowledge about their leanings, business deals, investors, their country policies, sentiment of their population, past trends etc. NYT, Economist, Time etc. are good examples, what would be the global public perception due to such headlines and breaking news, how could the public perception be moulded in positive manner for the country, how could nationalistic feelings be inculcated in the masses, how can the perception management of India be improved at the world for a how could the media blitzkrieg of India’s adversaries be predicted and replied/neutralized, how could the social media and internet news/discussions be given a positive slant for India.”
One of the many critics of this project is the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), which has sent a notice to the MIB to stop the project, failing which the organization would take legal action. Its concerns? “Social Media Communication Hub will also have the ability to broadcast content without any legal authority or guidance through 20 central and 716 district level social media executives. In sum, this is a system of control through surveillance and a capacity to spread propaganda,” the Foundation said in an online campaign.
The Foundation’s letter to MIB minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, sent last week, criticizes the government move on the ground that“the wider project to surveil social media is illegal and unconstitutional, being contrary to the right to privacy and freedom of speech and expression”.
Urging the ministry to withdraw the requests for proposal invited by BECIL, the IFF said, “The RFP document clearly indicates that the proposed Social Media Communication Hub seeks to create a technology architecture that merges mass surveillance with a capacity for disinformation. It is a perilous expense on the exchequer, given that an exorbitant amount of [Rs] 42.4833 crores (approximately Rs. 42 million) is being earmarked for a project that will undermine our fundamental rights.”
Meanwhile, MIB is also seized of the fate of a committee set up by former minister Smriti Irani to propose regulations for online media. Though Rathore in recent times has spoken of self-regulation of media, in general, he hasn’t yet articulated the government view on the committee, which critics say was beyond the remit of the MIB.
Indiantelevision.com learns from government sources that the online regulation committee has already held few informal meetings, though non-governmental organisations, seeking to be part of it, were not invited.
While some media industry organisations were named by the government to be part of this online regulation committee, many others like the internet and mobile association of India, Broadband Forum India and Asian media body CASBAA have, reportedly, sent in formal requests to be made part of this government committee, which, interestingly, doesn’t include a single online venture or body.
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I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
