Internet should not be allowed to be abused by a few, says IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

Internet is one of the finest creations of human mind which can’t be allowed to be abused by a few, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday. Speaking at the second Raisina Dialogue, organised here by the think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in collaboration with the External Affairs Ministry, Prasad said the world must unite to fight cyber threats.

“Internet is one of the finest creations of human mind. It should not be allowed to be abused by a few, which is happening… from terrorism, extremism, violence and hatred. And there, the civilised world is required to speak in one voice,” Prasad added. He said cyber war is a bloodless war as a few people sitting in a remote part of the world can create mayhem and, thus, there was need to strengthen cyber security and cyber safety.

“We have to guard and work with unity and commitment to eliminate these threats,” he said. Prasad added that for internet to become “truly global, it must have linkage with the local”. “It has to become a true representative of human race. The local culture, local language, local ideas must find adequate space on the internet. Then we can think of bridging the digital divide,” he said.

The Minister pointed out that India is one of the first countries to have taken a firm position that right of access to internet is “not negotiable”. “We have consciously decided that India’s would be a voice of moderation and sanity. But India’s would be a voice of assertion for the digital divide, for those who are on the margins of the digital divide, those who are discriminated and digitally deprived,” he said.

IANS