RS Prasad. (TNN file photo)

NEW DELHI: The government has said that internet "cannot be a monopoly of a few" while asking global social-media and IT giants to re-invest revenues and profits in India for generating jobs and digital infrastructure in the country.

At the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial meeting at Salata in Argentina , the government also said that any efforts to influence electoral processes in India by social-media and internet companies will be met with punishment and fines.

Addressing the plenary of the G20 meeting, IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the largest and most-dynamic markets for digital services are in Asia, Latin America and Africa, with India providing one of the biggest foot-print for several popular social-media and digital platforms. "It is only fair and just that some of the revenue and profit generated from these platforms be equitably re-invested in the largest markets to create more infrastructure and generate more job opportunities for the people there," Prasad said.

The minister said that while India believes in internet access for all, it cannot be the monopoly of a few. "While cyberspace is truly global, it must be linked with local ideas, local culture and local views".

Prasad also said that while privacy should not prohibit innovation, but it cannot become a shield for the corrupt or terrorists. "The Indian Supreme Court, while upholding the right to privacy, has also elaborated these aspects and we must have a fine balance between data availability, data innovation, data anonymity and data privacy. We need data to improve business, but the data must be anonymous, objective, and taken with consent."

Nefarious use of internet is a reality that needs to be met by concerted action by all, he said, adding that containing the use of cyber space to spread radical thoughts is a challenge that needs to be addressed both by individual countries as well as through international cooperation.

"India is taking all possible steps to make the cyberspace absolutely safe… (and) any act of cyber-crime or cyber threat will be dealt with severely."

The minster also said that India has taken serious note of reported misuse of social-media platforms to manipulate electoral processes and sway voter minds. "Such platforms will never be allowed to abuse our election process for extraneous means. The purity of the democratic process should never be compromised, and India will take all requisite steps to deter and punish those who seek to vitiate this process."

