HIGHLIGHTS
- Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while announcing new social media rules revealed that WhatsApp is the most used app in India.
- Ravi Shankar Prasad revealed that WhatsApp has over 53 crores users, YouTube has over 44.8 crores users in India.
- WhatsApp topped the charts with YouTube in the second spot, followed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
New Delhi: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (Communications, Electronics & Information Technology) announced new social media rules revealed that WhatsApp is the most used app in India. Minister shared the entire statistics about the usage of social media apps in India and WhatsApp in the first place and YouTube in the second place, followed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
During a press conference, Prasad revealed statistics that WhatsApp has over 53 crores users, YouTube has over 44.8 crores users in India. Facebook has around 41 crores, Instagram has 21 crores, and last but not least Twitter has over 1.5 crores
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) announced a new set of rules for the OTT platforms, social media platforms, and digital media. Decision making about the new rules, MEITY minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said during a press conference, “We have not framed any new law. We have framed these rules under the existing IT Act. We are trusting the platforms to follow these regulations. The focus of this guideline is on self-regulation”.
Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government wants social media platforms to introduce a mechanism for better verification of users. “Social media platforms upon being asked either by a court order or a govt authority will be required to disclose the first originator of mischievous tweet or message as the case may be,” Prasad said.
“All social media platforms are welcome in India but there shouldn’t be double standards. If an attack takes place on Capitol Hill, then social media supports police action, but if there’s an aggressive attack on Red Fort, then you’ve double standards. This is plainly not acceptable,” Ravi Prasad said.
