It’s Time for India to Regulate the Internet’s Social Media Platforms

Context: There is sound and fury over the conduct of a social media platform.

Merits of Social Media

• Technological innovators

• Rights enabler: It empowers the citizen to exercise his or her right to self-expression and also the right to information and alternate opinions.

• Provides equal opportunities for all: Social media has overthrown the monopolies once enjoyed by only a few influencers of public opinion. 

Demerits of Social Media

• Spread hate, sow divisions and create violence: Its power to shape or distort narratives and incite public opinion can be misused by those who want to spread hate, create divisions and violence

• Not simply technological tools any more: They are a significant force on the internet that can cause harm as much as the good they can do us.

• Inadequate laws: 

• The challenges of 2008, when the Information Technology (IT) Act was adopted, are surely not the challenges of 2020

Way Forward:

• Introduce new and flexible laws: We need a new legislative framework of the tech and internet sectors.

• The IT Act now gives a safe harbour to these social media platforms, absolving them of responsibility for content posted by users.
• Legislative and institutional framework must be flexible, dynamic and evolutionary, unlike what exists presently. 

• Create an Independent Regulatory body: We have too many laws and no real independent regulator, except the overloaded judiciary. 

• Ensure Constitutional Compliance: 

• The take-down policies, guidelines and algorithms of all social media platforms should be compliant with and not go beyond that Article 19(2) which provides limits to free speech

•  All the standards should be equitably applied to all, as per Article 14. 

• Independent and quasi-judicial adjudicating body: 

• There’s no need to set up a new institution. It may be better to either expand the mandate of an existing institution like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) or Competition Commission of India.

Conclusion: Unregulated social and digital media could pose a threat to India’s rise as a trustworthy and responsible nation, as also Indian democracy, the world’s largest.