A plea filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Mitra challenging a recent move by the I&B Ministry to monitor social media buzz at district level came up before the Supreme Court today.

However, SC’s vacation bench refused to grant urgent hearing, asking petitioner to approach high court.

The I&B Ministry had floated a tender for the creation of a Social Media Communication Hub which will enable the ministry “to grasp the affect of various social media campaigns conducted on various schemes run by the Government of India” to “improve the scope” of such campaigns and “to make a specific theme trending”.

It is to be noted that the issuing diktats against the media has become a regular affair at the I&B Ministry. Not very long ago, the ministry had to pull out a notification mandating punishment to journalists on the basis of mere allegations of “fake news” through withdrawal of their accreditation—a government-issued badge that allows them access to officialdom.

—India Legal Bureau