NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s proposed new privacy bill may require large social media platforms to offer an identify-verification option, a potentially precedent-setting effort to rein in the spread of “fake news”, two government sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The requirement would likely raise a host of technical and policy issues for companies including Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram units, Twitter and Chinese app TikTok, all of which have millions of users in India.
Companies – Mechanism – Users – Identities – Display
Companies would have to offer a mechanism for users to prove their identities and display that verification publicly, akin to the blue check-mark that Twitter has used to confirm the authenticity of some high-profile accounts, including those belonging to celebrities and politicians.
Verification would be optional for users, the sources said.
Personal – Data – Protection – Bill – Draft
The Personal Data Protection bill, whose first draft was made public last year, is keenly awaited by top technology companies and industry stakeholders as it could alter the way all major internet companies process, store and transfer Indian consumers’ data.
The identity verification requirement, introduced in the latest draft of the bill, would be one of the most ambitious efforts…