Steps taken to tackle frauds involving fake news, misleading advertisements | India News

NEW DELHI: Government said on Wednesday said that it is initiating steps to prevent fraud involving fake news, misleading advertisements and fake products on online platforms.
This is being done to keep the Internet open, safe, trusted and accountable, minister of state for IT and electronics Jitin Prasada said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
The key initiatives taken to prevent online frauds include specific “due diligence obligations” on online and social media intermediaries to prevent the hosting, display, uploading, publishing, transmission, storage or sharing of illegal content.
Failure to observe due diligence as provided in the IT Rules, 2021, will see the intermediaries lose the exemption from liability for any third-party information, data or communication link, under section 79 of the IT Act.
The minister also said that the Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued a comprehensive advisory in March this year to stop instances of advertisements promoting illegal activities.
“The advisory emphasizes the prohibition of advertising, promotion, and endorsement of unlawful activities prohibited under various laws,” Prasada said.
The consumer affairs department has also notified the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020 to safeguard consumers from unfair trade practices in e-commerce.
“These rules, inter-alia, outline the responsibilities of e-commerce entities and specify the liabilities of market-place and inventory e-commerce entities, including provisions for customer grievance redressal,” he said.
Also, the home ministry has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre to provide a framework and eco-system for Law Enforcement Agencies to deal with cyber-crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.