Sebi seeks greater access to social media records

India's markets regulator is seeking broader powers from the government to remove unauthorized financial advice from social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, and to access their call records for investigations into market violations, a government official and a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

- Reuters

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This is the second time since 2022 that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought such powers, with approval from the government still pending.

The request comes as the regulator has intensified investigations into market violations and clamped down on unregulated financial advice circulating on social media.

Social media companies have also not complied with the government's request for access to their call data records, and groups and channels, despite an earlier meeting with the regulator.

In its latest letter sent last week, Sebi said companies such as Meta Platforms's WhatsApp have denied the regulator access to its social media group chats as the current information technology law does not identify the capital markets watchdog as an 'authorized agency'.