**Executive Summary**
This document is the response from the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology to a question raised in Lok Sabha regarding the circulation of fraudulent financial schemes on social media. The response outlines existing legal provisions and initiatives aimed at curbing the spread of misleading information online. It also includes state/UT wise data on cases registered under fake news on social media under cyber crimes during 2021-2023.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Government's Policy Aim:** The Indian government aims to ensure a safe, trusted, and accountable cyberspace.
* **Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act"):** Has provisions for removing unlawful online content.
* **IT Rules, 2021:**
* Intermediaries (including social media platforms) must observe due diligence.
* Intermediaries shall inform users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update, or share any information that deceives or misleads about the origin of the message or knowingly communicates misinformation.
* **Grievance Redressal:**
* Users can make a request to the Grievance Officer of the concerned intermediary regarding unlawful information.
* The intermediary must act expeditiously within prescribed timelines upon receipt of such requests.
* Users can appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee within thirty days if aggrieved by the decision or lack of timely redressal.
* **Section 79 of the IT Act:**
* Requires intermediaries to disable/remove unlawful content through a court order or on being notified by an appropriate government or agency.
* Intermediaries lose exemption from liability for third-party information if they fail to observe due diligence as provided in IT Rules.
* **Awareness Initiative:** MeitY, through the ISEA program, is creating awareness about ethics while using the Internet and advising against sharing rumors/fake news.
* **Data on Cybercrimes:** State/UT-wise data from NCRB on cases registered, charge-sheeted, and convicted under fake news on social media for cybercrimes (involving communication devices as medium/target) during 2021-2023 is placed in Annexure I.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Social Media Platforms (Intermediaries)**
* **Impact:** They are required to exercise due diligence in monitoring content and responding to user complaints about unlawful information.
* **Action Required:** Implement mechanisms to remove or disable unlawful content as per the IT Rules and Section 79 of the IT Act.
**Stakeholder: Users of Social Media Platforms**
* **Impact:** Users are protected from fraudulent and misleading information, and they have a grievance redressal mechanism available to them.
* **Action Required:** Be aware of the types of information they should not share (rumors/fake news) and utilize the grievance redressal mechanism if they encounter unlawful content.
**Stakeholder: Government/Agencies**
* **Impact:** Responsible for identifying and notifying intermediaries about unlawful content.
* **Action Required:** Enforce the provisions of the IT Act and IT Rules.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: The ministry responsible for addressing fraudulent financial schemes on social media platforms.
Information Technology Act, 2000: The primary law providing provisions for removal of unlawful online content.
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”): Rules specifying due diligence requirements for intermediaries, including social media platforms, to address misinformation.
Section 79 of the Information Technology Act: Section defining the liabilities and exemptions for intermediaries regarding third-party content.
Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA): A MeitY program focused on creating awareness about responsible internet usage and combating fake news.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1962
TO BE ANSWERED ON: 11.02.2026
CIRCULATION OF FRAUDULENT FINANCIAL SCHEMES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
1962. DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:
Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that a large number of videos circulating on social media platforms are
propagating fraudulent financial schemes and misleading social narratives;
(b) if so, the details of steps taken by the Government to regulate, monitor and curb the dissemination of such
content;
(c) the number of persons who have been booked, charged or prosecuted in connection with such cases during the
last three years, year and State/UT-wise; and
(d) the policy framework or action plan proposed by the Government to effectively prevent the spread of such
fraudulent and misleading videos on social media platforms?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI JITIN PRASADA)
(a) to (d): The policies of Government of India are aimed at ensuring open, safe, trusted and
accountable cyberspace for users in the country. The Government is cognizant of the risks and harms arising from
the misuse of digital technologies including the misuse of social media platforms.
The Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”) has provisions for removal of unlawful online content. The
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”),
require that the intermediaries , which includes social media platforms, shall observe due diligence while
discharging their duties and shall inform the users of computer resources not to host, display, upload, modify,
publish, transmit, update or share any information that deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of
message or knowingly and intentionally communicates any misinformation or information that is patently false
and untrue or misleading in nature or is unlawful in any way.
Where any information falls within the categories prohibited under this Rule, any user may make a request to the
Grievance Officer of the concerned intermediary on whose platform such unlawful information is made available
to the public. Upon receipt of such request, the intermediary must act expeditiously within the timelines prescribed
under IT Rules, 2021. In case the user is aggrieved by the decision of an intermediary’s Grievance Officer or
does not receive timely redressal, user may prefer an appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee within thirty
days of the receipt of communication from the Grievance Officer.
Section 79 of the Information Technology Act provides that intermediaries are required to disable/remove
unlawful content through a court order or on being notified by appropriate government or its agency. In case of
failure to observe due diligence as provided in the IT Rules, intermediaries lose the exemption from liability for
any third-party information, data or communication link, under section 79 of the IT Act.MeitY through a program, namely, Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA), has been creating
awareness among users highlighting the importance of following the ethics while using Internet and advising
them not to share rumors/fake news. A dedicated website for information security awareness
(https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides relevant awareness material.
As per records maintained by NCRB, the State/UT-wise cases registered, cases charge sheeted, and cases
convicted under fake news on social media for cybercrimes (involving communication devices as
medium/target) during 2021- 2023 is placed in Annexure I.
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Annexure - I
State/UT-wise Cases Registered(CR), Cases Chargesheeted(CCS), Cases Convicted(CON), Persons Arrested(PAR), Persons Chargesheeted(PCS) and Persons Convicted(PCV) under Fake
News on Social Media under Cyber Crimes during 2021-2023
2021 2022 2023
SL State/UT
CR CCS CON PAR PCS PCV CR CCS CON PAR PCS PCV CR CCS CON PAR PCS PCV
1Andhra Pradesh 14 18 0 16 19 0 15 10 1 11 11 1 24 15 0 21 23 0
2Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3Assam 5 1 0 5 1 0 3 1 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4Bihar 3 2 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 14 3 0 2 3 0
5Chhattisgarh 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6Goa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7Gujarat 2 7 0 6 8 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8Haryana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9Himachal Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10Jharkhand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11Karnataka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 1 0
12Kerala 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13Madhya Pradesh 6 7 0 8 8 0 15 14 0 16 14 0 4 3 0 0 3 0
14Maharashtra 15 12 0 12 16 0 23 3 0 4 3 0 10 1 0 0 1 0
15Manipur 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
17Mizoram 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18Nagaland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19Odisha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20Punjab 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
21Rajasthan 7 5 0 5 5 0 5 2 0 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
22Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23Tamil Nadu 23 6 0 11 12 0 37 7 0 55 40 0 35 10 4 23 14 4
24Telangana 34 50 0 29 63 0 81 45 0 17 52 0 98 33 7 31 39 7
25Tripura 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26Uttar Pradesh 24 16 0 27 26 0 36 36 30 51 51 30 11 8 0 12 11 0
27Uttarakhand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28West Bengal 43 23 0 21 24 0 10 8 0 12 10 0 7 7 0 8 11 0
TOTAL STATE(S) 179 148 0 145 185 0 230 127 31 178 189 31 209 82 11 98 107 11
29A&N Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30Chandigarh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32Delhi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33Jammu & Kashmir 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34Ladakh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
35Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
36Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL UT(S) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL (ALL INDIA) 179 148 0 145 185 0 230 128 31 179 190 31 209 82 11 98 107 11
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