Permanent Mission of India Thank you Madame Chair, India is a multicultural, multi-religious and multilingual nation with a long history of pluralism. The constitution of India guarantees justiciable fundamental rights to all citizens including freedom of religion and of speech and expression, as well as cultural and education rights to religious and linguistic minorities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs was established to improve the socio economic conditions of minority communities. The National Commission of Minorities and National Human Rights Commission also safeguards the rights of minorities. Madame Chair, [?] cyber space coupled with instant communication and the possibility of anonymity has the potential of spread of misinformation. The Information Technology Act in India has providence for removal of such objectionable online content. Our cooperation technology rules of 2011 require that intermediaries, which include social media platforms of due diligence while deciding the duty and inform users of computer resources, not to share information that is harmful, objectionable and unlawful. Madame Chair, The government in India has taken several steps to meet the challenges at hand. Our Ministry of Electronic and It and of Home Affairs regularly interact with social media platforms to effectively address the issue of spread of fake news and misinformation, as well as removal of objectionable and hateful content. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has set up account on misinformation unit to tackle fake news about government problems and policies on social media platforms. The Ministry of Electronics and IT has been creating awareness on the importance of Internet ethic through information and security education and awareness programs. The Ministry of Home Affairs has created a [?] to spread awareness about cyber safety and cyber security. Madame Chair, In 2019 the India supported the French initiative of Christchurch Call Action to eliminate violent extremist content online. Earlier this year, following the COVID 19 pandemic, India joined the countries in coauthoring the cross-regional statement on infodemic. It recognizes the conditions that enable the spread of disinformation to foment violence and divide communities, and call on countries to take steps to counter the spread of such disinformation. India remains committed to guarantee all rights of minorities in line with its commitments under national and international instruments. I thank you Madame Chair!