SC seeks response from Centre on I&B Ministry's decision to set up social media hub for monitoring online data.

The Supreme Court today took a note of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's decision to set up a social media hub for monitoring online data. The top court said, the government wants to tap citizens' WhatsApp messages and sought its response within two weeks.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre on a plea by Trinamool Congress legislator Mahua Moitra and sought Attorney General K K Venugopal's assistance in the matter.

Earlier, on 18th June, the apex court had refused to accord urgent hearing on the plea seeking to stay a central government move to set up a 'Social Media Communication Hub' that would collect and analyse digital and social media content.

Recently, the Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking under the ministry, had floated a tender to supply a software for the project (Source: News on Air)