Karishma Mehrotra
Articles By Karishma Mehrotra
Facing ire, TikTok parent firm ByteDance to set up India data unit
A committee led by Justice B N Srikrishna released a draft Data Protection Bill nearly a year ago that mandates some types of data of Indian citizens to be stored in India.
IT Ministry seeks TikTok, Helo response on ‘anti-national’ activities
An IT ministry official told The Indian Express that the questions were based on issues raised in the media and Parliament.
Government panel floats digital ID for health records, may link Aadhaar
The committee has suggested that the Health Ministry should consult UIDAI, which issues Aadhaar, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in the design of the Personal Health Identifier (PHI), to maintain a Personal Health Record (PHR).
Automated facial recognition: what NCRB proposes, what are the concerns
The NCRB, which manages crime data for police, would like to use automated facial recognition to identify criminals, missing people, and unidentified dead bodies, as well as for “crime prevention”.
TikTok suspends accounts of trio who posted video on Jharkhand mob attack
The three whose accounts were suspended had verified accounts - collectively, they had millions of followers for videos that often showcased them lip-syncing with a group called “Team 07”.
Economic Survey advocates ‘govt-driven data revolution for public good’
Isolating “data” as a strategic focus for the first time, this survey has stated that in the sectors private players ignore because of no commercial profit, the government should step in.
RSS media arm honours group that branded citizens anti-national
Last Saturday, Clean The Nation (CTN), the group which went after them, was honoured with the Social Media Patrakarita Narad Samman, instituted by RSS-affiliate Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra (IVSK).
Online readers didn’t polarise during Lok Sabha polls: Study
The new findings from the recent elections, however, suggest Indian online audiences have “omnivorous media diets” and do not fall into the predicted polarised patterns.
Explained: Why the world is debating data flow
Should data be allowed to flow freely or localised at source? As IT Ministry prepares to present data protection Bill in Parliament and countries argue at global forums, a look at both sides of the debate.
Telling Numbers: Do people trust online news? How Indians, others responded
In India, 36% of respondents trusted the news overall, including 45% in search and 34% in social media. In other markets, 42% of respondents trusted the news overall, with 33% trusting it in search and 23% in social media.
Chasing fame and fun 15 seconds at a time: Why TikTok has India hooked
How TikTok, an app owned by a Chinese firm, has become a playground for India’s young.
Bias against Modi govt: BJP slams US report on religious freedom
The remarks come ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s scheduled visit to India next week towards boosting bilateral trade tensions.
At 50 million audience, India BBC’s top overseas market
Hindi and Telugu have grown the most — to over 18 million and 7.9 million respectively —while Tamil has 10.3 million viewers, Marathi 2 million, and Punjabi 3.5 lakh.
Connectivity is foundation for Internet of Things revolution, says IT Secretary
Globally, IoT most often refers to household appliances (such as security systems or lights and speakers), but Sawhney urged the stakeholders to innovate for India’s problems and gave the examples of soil conditions, irrigation, pollution, and transportation.
Online payment of bills: Four-fold surge in rural and semi-urban India
Launched in 2006, the IT Ministry’s WiFi-enabled Common Service Centres shops act as physical access points to avail government and business services online in almost all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats.
No significant influence of social media on BJP’s Lok Sabha poll win: Study
The BJP’s vote share lead over the Congress has reduced among social media users and grown among non-users since 2014, the study shows.
‘Islamophobia in 37% of hate speech, disinformation on Facebook’
The study points to failure of the content moderation process by Facebook, adding that 93 per cent of all hate speech posts reported are still available on the platform.
Draft National Education Policy calls for integrating technology into education
“When the National Policy on Education 1986/1992 was formulated, it was difficult to predict the disruptive effect that the internet was about to have, particularly in boosting the development rates,” the draft policy states.
Explained: Why US wants social media details of most visa applicants
Social media is an intricate map of its users’ contacts, associations, habits and preferences. Critics say the sweeping surveillance potential of the new regulations could discourage a wide range of visa applicants.
Fight ‘data colonisation’ with ‘data sovereignty’: ABVP’s Sunil Ambekar
He said that centuries of foreign rule in India has taken away the country’s sovereignty and “pursuit of supremacy”, and the next frontier of this competition is over data.
