Last month Elon Musk put an offer to buy out Twitter for 44 Billion Dollars. It’s a huge amount. It was one of the biggest Social Media purchase offer to date. But suddenly, Elon Musk put a hold on his offer and acquisition. He gave one reason why he put a hold on the acquisition: Fake Accounts on Twitter.
During the acquisition talks, the Twitter team said their platform has 5% fake users from its daily active users. But when Musk cross-check these facts, he was unsure about the numbers provided by the Twitter team.
Why we need Internet Identity Number
Today, the Internet and Social Media are an important part of humans. We meet friends, family, and colleagues over the internet. We get jobs from the internet. We get news and information about current affairs from the internet. Today majority of information came through the internet and Social Media.
When we receive any news and information on Social Media we think it’s coming from a Credible source and person. So we put faith and believe in that. But what if the post you receive was shared under some agenda. You never know that your opinions and information are being manipulated under some propaganda.
We need some sort of unique identity to every internet user
Elon musk has dought that Twitter has more than 5% fake accounts. This deal creates doubts and fear about the credibility of the Platform and the content we consume over there. Because the majority of fake accounts are created to spread Fake News, Propaganda, and Misinformation. Below are the stats that show how many fake accounts are there on each social media platform.
Total Number of Fake Accounts
- Facebook – 137 Million
- Instagram – 95 Million
- Twitter – 50 Million
We all know how Facebook manipulated the US Elections. And how fake Twitter trends create a mess in the country. I’m not saying the platform does it willingly. But these stats clearly show that this problem is also not in their control. So what can be the solution to this? And the answer is Unique Identity to Every Internet User.
What is an Internet Identity Number?
As a citizen of the country we all have some sort of Citizenship ID, which shows that we are citizens of this country like your Voter ID Card is unique to you. You have only one Voter ID card that belongs to you. In the majority of cases, people don’t fake such Government Documents.
Internet Identity Number is a number that will issue by Government. And will map with any one Government ID like a Voter ID or Driving License. This number will be an alphanumeric code that gives you a unique identity over the internet. As this Internet Identity Number belongs to you and maps with your other Government ID, in that case, it will be easy for Government to track you down if you create any mess.
Government can make it mandatory for every Website and Social Media to use this Internet Identity Number as a compulsory field in every account creation process. Applying this solution will drastically reduce fake account creation. And also easy for Governments to track down Fake News and Propaganda Creators. Which will results in more Safer, Secure and Authenticate Internet Experience.
What about Privacy and will this ensures 100% accuracy?
Internet Identity Number will not share any personal details with Websites. You’ll only need to share your Internet Identity Number, that’s all. Websites will not able to see the mapped Government Document. Just like when you share your mobile number, that doesn’t disclose the documents you submit to Provider. Only Government will know the details of the attached document with the Internet Identity Number.
Same as all solutions, this solution is not 100% accurate. Issuing a driving license doesn’t guarantee that accidents will stop. But after applying this solution we will be more secure on the internet than before. It will reduce fake account creation, sharing of misinformation, and propaganda on the internet. It will not make the internet 100% secure, but at least it will make the internet 1% better for us.
