With the progress in data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics etc. our focus has shifted to Industrial Revolution 4.0. However much work of previous generations of the Industrial Revolution especially on the policy front has been pending, more so for the Internet. The Internet has touched almost every sector of our lives and countries of the world, including India, are found to be inadequately prepared in many of these sectors and regulations are either absent or nascent.
Governments grappling with the Internet ecosystem
Take for example the role of the internet in employment. The Internet has led to a whole new variety of job opportunities like gig and platform workers, freelancers etc. among others. These new jobs are outside the traditional employee-employer relation and as a result, they fall through the cracks of existing labour laws and benefits. India, with the recent Code on Social Security 2020, and Britain’s Supreme Court recent verdict of entitlement to labour rights to Uber drivers are, at best, the initial steps of a long journey that countries are taking to address this issue. Similarly “Google Taxing” internet-based digital entities like Amazon, Google etc. who earn profits from countries where they don’t have a physical presence is another task for which economies across the world are still strategising.
A similar lack of effective regulation has been felt in the new mode of video-based entertainment streaming through the internet on Over The Top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Prime Videos, Hotstar etc. India has a proper mechanism to censor movies meant for “public exhibition” in the form of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the Cinematograph Act, 1952. But such regulation for OTT platforms is currently absent and the Ministry of Information Broadcasting is framing regulations for them.
But, the most salient development made possible by the internet is the advent of social media, which merits detailed discussion.
The curious case of Social Media
Social media’s inherent tendency is to be monopolistic. Be it Youtube for video sharing, Twitter for wider formal dialogue in a public circle, Facebook for interaction in a private circle and LinkedIn for communicating in a professional circle. Every social media platform has a niche domain of its own where they dominate. The underlying reason for this monopoly of social media lies in its design and the way of its working. Social media platforms are associated with information and opinion sharing where the goal is to have maximum access and visibility of content. And this can be efficiently achieved only if maximum users, if not all, are on the same platform. This is unlike toothbrush or electronic gadget where each person can comfortably have their own and different choice or can, even, change one’s choice regularly. This also explains, among other reasons, why Google-plus could not rival Facebook. This dominance of a social media platform in their niche area makes them enormously influential in public discourse. Consequently, in different countries of the world, there has been an attempt to tame it.
However, one must acknowledge the contributions that social media has made. They have increased political participation by democratising opinion-making. Citizens can make themselves heard by supporting and criticising the government on the social media platform. This opinion sharing was hitherto limited to few with access to newspaper columns and television debates. Hence, in a way, the social media platform has strengthened democracy. Seeing in this light any attempt to regulate social media can come out to be seen as an illiberal step.
So, what should be the modus operandi then? To paraphrase William Shakespeare - To do or not to do?
The answer to this question is, however, not that much difficult if we go to one of the basic tenets of democracy - absolute power without accountability is an anti-thesis to democracy. Since social media are, now, an important stakeholder in democracy, they also need to play by the rule of democracy. Recent cases of Facebook removing posts from the Australian government’s health department, fire services etc. while anti-vaccine pages remaining unaffected or Facebook and Twitter, both of whom are private entities not elected by citizens and unaccountable to the legislative body of the government, unilaterally blocking former USA president Donald Trump on their platform emphasises the need to do so.
Hence, there should be predefined rules and regulations by which actions of social media platforms should be guided which can check whimsical arbitrariness. However, regulations should be aimed at strengthening the democratic spirit and not stifling it under the garb of regulation. A proper balance needs to be achieved between freedom of speech and expression and wider societal good, as also enshrined in the Indian Constitution under article 19. Social media platforms should remain an effective vehicle for democratising opinion sharing.
On the bigger picture, it is important to supplement all technological developments, not only internet led developments, by sound and meticulous policy-making to prevent misuse and also inspire confidence among citizens.
Comments
Post a Comment