Modi's office probes website takedowns

Seeks explanation from telecom secretary about fake court orders

NEW DELHI:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office summoned the telecommunications secretary on Saturday, asking him to explain how officials ordered the takedown of more than 100 websites based on fake court orders, two government officials said.

The intervention from Modi's office signals intensifying scrutiny after Reuters reported on Wednesday that telecom officials directed internet providers to block 129 illegal betting websites based on fake High Court orders, which were emailed to officials by people posing as lawyers.

While online betting is illegal in India, the case has raised concerns that a lack of safeguards in the content takedown system could allow falsified court documents to be used to block legitimate websites. The findings have triggered a criminal investigation by state police into potential forgery and cheating by unidentified people.

Modi's office summoned Telecom Secretary Amit Agrawal to appear and explain the lapse, cutting short Agrawal's trip to another state, said the two government officials with knowledge of the matter.

Agrawal is the most senior bureaucrat in the telecom ministry, which oversees everyone from big telecom operators to internet providers. "The action taken by the Department of Telecommunications against betting accounts was carried out through the relevant field officers," one of the officials said. Court precedents generated using AI have caused concerns among judges the world over. India's Supreme Court in July set aside a tribunal's orders that relied on non-existent judgments and a US judge recently disqualified lawyers over use of fabricated legal citations.