Govt asks citizens not to forward malicious content on social media

"You need not wear the uniform to be a soldier of this country, you need not go to the borders now, because the enemy can actually strike in your home (through social media). "All you have to do is be aware and not forward any malicious content or anything that you are not aware of and actually be a soldier by preventing forwarding of such information," he said.

The Information and Broadcasting minister made the remark at the inaugural session of 'Women Economic Forum' here in response to a question on cyber stalking of women. He asked the people to self-regulate, contending that governments across the world are yet to find solutions to deal with the issue of circulation of malicious content on the internet.

Rathore stated that although the issue was being handled by the information and technology ministry, people should try to solve it at an individual level and spread the word on social network. The Olympic medallist also called for self-regulation of media, adding the government has not taken any restrictive action against it.

Slovenia's Development Minister Alenka Smerkolj also attended the event.

While it isn't an easy task to curb circulation of malicious content online, it is great to see that the government has begun discussing the problem. In several countries cyber crimes and privacy has been included in the school curriculum, and it's time it is implemented here too. Other ways could be informative and educational hoardings about password security, circulating unverified news, cyber crimes and so on. 

Fake news issue is becoming bigger than what one may have imagined. Both Facebook and Google have already announced their plans to tackle the problem of fake news. Cyber security is a problem that is going to get even bigger with passing years. As our lives go digital, malicious minds will find a way to cash in on vulnerabilities. 

Recently, the Hyderabad police had tweeted around creating strong password. Such small steps around creating awareness could be beneficial.

With input from PTI