Between hate and state

CONTEXT: As Supreme court decides to lay down regulations and guidelines for regulating conduct in the Sudarshan TV case, various challenges lie ahead in our journey to free speech.

Issues with free speech in India:

• Over-regulation: When we regulate speech too much, we are not just targeting the speech. We are in effect saying: We cannot trust the people to make the right kinds of distinctions.
• Threats due to Hate Speech: Hate speech often targets and degrades a community.
• The spread of hate speech and its political consequences are now infinitely greater. 
• The precedents of a Rwanda-like situation, where communication mediums are used to target communities, are not outside the realm of possibility.
• Failure of the Liberals to check the free speech: The constitution of Rights used such protections as it had to spread its hate 
• Greater Spectre of Authoritarianism: Regulation of free speech augments the power of the states, 
• Over-reliance on legal instruments: to solve fundamentally social and political problems often backfires.
• The more the state regulates, the more it politicizes the regulation of speech, and ultimately legitimate dissent will be the victim.
• Institutional Dysfunction:  Presence of numerous laws like Cable Broadcaster Act having the ability to sue, have been ineffective.
• Broken structures of democratic deliberations:  Deeper political economy involved in how social media operates, bypasses the democratic decision-making process.
• For, E.g. The granting of licences has always been a political affair; the pricing structures set by the TRAI have perverse consequences for quality and competition.
• Our current media landscape is neither a market nor a state.
• Judicial Interference: The Court suo motu setting up a regulatory framework does not inspire confidence. 

Way Ahead:

• Revival of faith in democracy.
• Space for legitimate dissent in society.
• Granting of regulations needs to be depoliticized.
• TRAI pricing structure needs to be rationalized.
• Media needs to step-up to its role of being free, to set a good example.
• A good market structure for broadcasting will provide better checks and balances, rather than post-facto content regulation.