Sonia calls for curbs on social media cos, says they are hacking democracy

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said global social media companies are being abused to hack India's democracy and urged the government to put an end to their "systematic influence and interference" in electoral politics.

Gandhi, speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, said global companies such as Facebook and Twitter are being increasingly used "to shape political narratives by leaders, political parties and their proxies".

She described as an issue of paramount importance "the rising danger of social media being abused to hack our democracy" and added it has repeatedly come to public notice that global social media companies "are not providing a level playing field to all political parties."