'Nude-morphed photos of women on social media must be removed in 24 hrs'

New Delhi, March 18 The Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said in the Rajya Sabha that as per the guidelines if a woman is objectified through "nude or morphed photos" then social media company has to remove it within 24 hours.

The Minister said this while replying during the Question hour.

He also said that internet imperialism was unacceptable in the country and the government will not allow monopoly over it.

He also clarified there was no threat of impacting elections in the country as the ministry was working in close association with the Election Commission.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said that any content which is anti India or disturbs public order should be removed within 36 hours as per the new guidelines while Social Media companies have been asked to verify the users so that no fake news is spread or hate content is posted. He said this would be voluntary and the government has no role in it.

The Minister said that the government was open to criticism and there was no restriction on it.

Congress MP Shakti Singh Gohil asked the Minister as to how the user would be identified if the profile was fake, the minister said, "The onus was on the company".

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( With inputs from IANS )