For Rajyavardhan Rathore, every netizen is a soldier guarding the Web

New Delhi: Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore on Monday asked netizens to be “soldiers” by not forwarding “malicious” content circulated by “enemies” 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),” he said.

The minister’s comments came at the inaugural session of the Women Economic Forum here in response to a question on cyber stalking of women.

“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 added.

He asked 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.

He said 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.

The issue of trolls harassing genuine accounts on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook has been of concern to both users and the authorities.

Cyber experts have so far been unable to control the menace of trolls. Recently, the CEO of social media giants had even hinted at state-sponsored disruptive activites on the Internet.

Facebook is one of the firms that has promised to take steps to proactively control fake news and trolls.