Government is going to set up a surveillance agency which can forewarn about any malicious intent on the internet as a part of its strategy to deal with the misuse of social media.

According to the minutes of a recent meeting chaired by national security advisor Shivshanker Menon, the government also decided to frame guidelines for telecom operators. This was decided in the light of the events of the Assam exodus when text messages, internet and social media were used to spread rumours about clashes in Assam.

The minutes also stated that meeting, attended by senior officials from home ministry, PMO, intelligence agencies and from national security council secretariat (NSCS), took stock of the validity, impact and effectiveness of the government action to block certain content on the internet and social media.

It was felt that in future, an "appropriate regime should be put in place to address similar situation in a smart, timely and consistent manner", it said.

It was decided to have an "effective monitoring system, comprising duly tasked and technologically empowered cyber monitoring and surveillance agencies which can report build up in time and forewarn government of any malicious use of the internet and social media."

It was also decided to prepare a legal regime approved by the government, which would fill the existing gaps in the information technology Act for dealing with such a situation, including providing a deterrent for malicious use of the internet and social media.
The members of the meeting felt that public guidelines and standard operating procedures need to be set by the government and service providers to handle such a crisis.

"This will introduce predictability with regard to what kind of content is liable to be regulated and for how long, the structure and process for such regulation, proactive dissemination of information to counter false propaganda as well as a system of graded response and graded penalty to perpetrators," the minutes of the meeting said.

There is a need for continuous research and development to counter the encryption of data by certain vested interests to spread falsehood in the cyber world, according to the minutes of the meeting.

"Our agencies need to be legally and financially empowered. The legal position on whether the law of the land or the law of the intermediaries will take precedence in cyberspace also needs to be clarified while putting a legal regime in place," it said.

This step is aimed at internet operators who take refuge under the law of the nations where they are registered.

After the meeting, the home ministry was asked to authorise intelligence bureau, defence research and development organisation and three others to monitor the web and social media services for malicious content having implications on law and order.

Home ministry was also asked to lead a group of concerned departments in preparing guidelines and standard operating procedures for dealing with malicious use of cyberspace.

The department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) will prepare a comprehensive policy paper outlining the structure, mandate and tasking of the proposed mechanism for responding to malicious use of the internet, it said.