Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has informed Parliament that a committee to monitor cyberspace is being constituted and it would keep a watch on all extremist messages posted on social networking platforms and other online forums. The move comes after the government realised that intelligence agencies as well as the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) have not been effective in disseminating data in cyberspace. Sources said while a robust mechanism for cyberspace monitoring is in the pipeline, India will also take help from countries like USA and Israel to develop their system. “Currently, only a rough sketch has been prepared and the online word has to be tapped effectively. In a review meeting it was found that the present strength and set-up of IB is not enough to disseminate data that is being collected. The case of Bangalore youth who was arrested for running a Twitter handle in support of Islamic State (IS) is also an example on how such radicalised messages went untraced,” a official said.
