Reuters reported that India’s market regulator is seeking broader government powers to remove unauthorized financial advice from social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram and access their call records to investigate market violations, and Reviewed by REUTERS.
This is the second time since 2022 that the Securities and Exchange Commission of India seeks such powers, but is under approval by the government still under trial.
The request comes as regulators strengthen investigations into market violations and limits unregulated financial advice circulating on social media. Sebi said that despite earlier meetings with regulators, social media companies also do not meet the requirements of government access to their call data records.
In a latest letter sent last week, Sebi said companies such as Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp deny regulators’ access to their social media group chats because current information technology laws do not view Capital Markets’ dog surveillance as a “authorized agency” .
The letter shows that regulators seek power to “delete any messages, information, links and groups on social media channels” if the content violates securities regulations.
It also seeks the power to access the record of call or message data communicated through digital or social media platforms.
Currently, such powers are subject to other law enforcement agencies such as the Taxation Department, Tax Intelligence Department and Law Enforcement Bureau, but there are no regulatory agencies.
According to a letter sent on February 3, “SEBI found itself limited in investigating serious market violations because of the lack of authority to access call data records.”
The letter and its contents have not been reported.
Sebi, the Ministry of Finance and the Meta Platform did not respond to emails seeking comments.
Telegram said in a revised statement emailed to Reuters on Friday that it touched regularly with various departments of SEBI and processed all valid content review requests that were accompanied by necessary documentation.
It said: “Under the guidance of the IT Act 2000, Telegram is working fully with the authorities concerned to review or prevent groups or channels from processing their requests.”
“However, due to the structural design of its technical architecture, telegrams cannot provide access to call data.”
The revised statement removed the reference to “Telecom has not denied access to SEBI” in the previous statement issued Thursday, but did not elaborate.
Government officials who are directly aware of the matter said there were several investigations related to market manipulation, including leaders and insider trading, requiring regulators to access the records of these social media groups.
WhatsApp Group and Telegram channels are already popular among market participants, with financial influencers sharing trading tips on specific stocks and other securities in exchange for money.
Earlier request
In August 2022, SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch also made a similar request, requiring the government to provide more power to obtain information exchange between suspected criminal suspects such as insider trading through digital resources.
Instead of granting these powers, the government convened meetings of different departments, including SEBI, and together with representatives of Meta, directed them to provide all relevant information about the ongoing investigation.
The government is reviewing new requirements for SEBI, but officials say such powers are often granted only for serious crimes, and any decision to grant these powers requires a broader policy decision for all regulators.
Developed countries such as Europe and the United States do not grant direct power to their securities regulators to delete social media posts. However, they have the ability to punish individuals engaged in illegal activities, such as fraud and misleading advertising.
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