UIDAI revokes tender for social media surveillance
Hindustan Times
The law officer did not provide a
reason for this but said UIDAI is withdrawing the tender floated by it in May
2018 for setting up a social media monitoring hub.
The Unique Identification Agency of
India has dropped a contentious and controversial plan to set up a social media
monitoring hub, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal informed the Supreme
Court on Tuesday.
The law officer did not provide a
reason for this but said UIDAI is withdrawing the tender floated by it in May
2018 for setting up a social media monitoring hub. “It may be noted that UIDAI
neither has no plans to revive the same tender nor is floating a similar tender
again,” he said during a petition by All India Trinamool Congress Member of
Parliament Mahua Moitra challenging the plan.
UIDAI, in May 2018, floated a tender
for hiring an agency for social media management services through Central
Public Procurement (CPP) portal, but put the process on hold after Moitra filed
a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court in July 2018.
UIDAI’s original defence was that the
plan was to counter “negative sentiments” on Aadhaar. Moitra’s PIL raised questions over the
government plan to track social media accounts of citizens.
A similar attempt by the Union Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting to create a social media hub to map social
media accounts was nipped after the top court commented it was a step towards
creating a “surveillance state. ” UIDAI’s lawyer refused to be quoted on
the matter.
Moitra tweeted about her “victory”,
tagging her counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi. “Huge victory today- on my petition
UIDAI tells Supreme Court they are withdrawing tender for intended Social Media
Surveillance Hub and says not planning to float any more in near future,” she
tweeted.
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