Social media needs to be made more accountable and stricter policy rules could be brought in if there is political consensus on the matter, India's IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in parliament, saying the government was committed to upholding the dignity of women irrespective of "religion or region". 

The minister in his written reply said, "Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook qualify as Intermediaries as per the information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. The government is committed to ensure that the Internet in India is Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable for all users." 

At the same time, protecting the dignity of women "is a fundamental construct of our government and there cannot be any compromise on it. This is our commitment and there is no talk of any religion or region in it," the minister asserted. 

Responding to a querry from BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi on what action has been initiated against websites like 'BulliBai' that targeted Muslim women and put them up for so-called auction on social media, he said the government acted immediately when the violation was brought to its notice.

He said the government has initiated immediate action on this matter, adding action has not been merely on the surface but the IT ministry has gone deeper by going to the root cause.

"We have to bring about a balance and consensus to make social media accountable to ensure the safety and security of our women and our future generations," the minister said.

Vaishnaw said social media was ubiquitous "and had a lot of importance in our lives today" and the government has brought comprehensive intermediary rules and guidelines for social media in 2021 on how to make social media safe and accountable to avoid its misuse.

However, he said, whenever the government has taken any step to make social media accountable, the opposition has accused it of curbing the freedom of speech.

For this, he said, social media rules have to be strengthened and if the opposition accuses the government of curbing freedom of speech, then it is wrong.

"If the house has consensus, we are willing to provide even more stricter social media rules. I personally believe that for the protection of our citizens, we must make the rules stricter," he said.

He said "we have to come forward as a society and create much more accountability of the social media."