Is India Still an Ideal Open Market?

DU Desk — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 06:05:04 +0000

It all began in the year starting 2000 – India’s internet exploded and everyone, including the big tech, came in to grab a piece of that pie. The global tech giants, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Google, provided India with powerful platforms to transact, seek and express information and consume entertainment while accelerating their own user base.

This honeymoon period, however, now seems to be fading for these companies. Something seems to have changed in the past few years. There is a common global sentiment – “Put a leash on big tech (social media platforms)”.

Countries have been seeking stronger regulations of social media platforms, some even banning them. Similar has been the case in India. Recently, the Indian government ordered Twitter and Facebook to take down 100 posts critical of its coronavirus handling. This comes two months after similar orders were passed to take down accounts and posts with negative narrative on farmers protests. In February 2021, the ministry came out with new rules and regulations for social media, which were criticised for being “anti-national and unconstitutional, suppressing freedom of speech”.

This brings us to an important question – Do regulations undermine the idealism of an open market in a country? The answer is no. Regulation is good. But the agenda behind it needs to be clear and not created to suit a particular narrative.

Tightening the Noose: What the Government Says?

While passing the recent orders to take down the 100 posts, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “We respect social media a lot, it has empowered common people. Social media has a big role in the Digital India Programme. However, if social media are misused to spread fake news and violence, then action will be taken on the misuse of social media in India whether Twitter or else.”

“There is freedom of speech but Article 19A says that this is subject to reasonable restrictions,” he said, adding that all the social media platforms will have to adhere to the Constitution of India which allows criticism of the government and the Prime Minister, but spreading fake news will not be allowed.

While the government came under criticism to create “unreasonable barriers” for big tech firms, the government itself counter questioned these firms by saying that they apply different parameters for different countries.

“Different parameters can’t be allowed for different countries. It can’t be different for the Capitol Hill incident and some other parameters for the Red Fort incident.”

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How can something that is freely expressed verbally in public or on other media platforms be “unlawful” for social media platforms

“Tweets must continue to flow…”

Twitter chose to remain defiant and issued a public statement that the safety of its employees was a top priority, but that the “tweets must continue to flow”.

In a statement, Twitter had informed that in such cases, a legal request is usually reviewed under both Twitter rules and local laws. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, it is removed. If it is found to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, the company withholds access to the content in India only and the account holders are notified.

In today’s scenario, for a market to be open and ideal, regulations play an important role. As mentioned earlier, regulations are good, given the agenda and reasons behind them are clear. In India’s case, this is somewhat distorted. It’s a grey area when it comes to operating laws for social media platforms.

How can something that is freely expressed verbally in public or on other media platforms be “unlawful” for social media platforms. Moreover, is it the law of India or is it the law of the country where the parent company is based? Or, is it the ‘law’ as framed by the company, regardless of the law(s) of either the parent or the host country.

These unexplained questions dilute the idealism of an open market. “Selective” censor of tweets /posts /accounts /hashtags further undermine the transparency and purpose of the regulations. This is more hurtful for a country like India which is known for its vibrant democracy.

We can Chain them, but can we do without them?

An ideal open market is a long gone concept as “businesses” are at stake now. Governments across the global, including the US and Australia, are looking to regulate big tech firms but are also open to doing deals with them.

In some cases, big social media platforms and apps losing access to the Indian market may not be as big of an impact for the company than for the Indian government which relies heavily on them for global interactions and pushes forward its own messages and narrative. It goes both ways. Ideal or non-ideal, the business will continue as usual for nations.

The post Is India Still an Ideal Open Market? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

New Regulations for Social Media: How will it Change the Way Google, Facebook and Twitter Operate in the country

Aakash Sharma — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 10:35:05 +0000

On February 26, 2021, the Indian government passed a bill to introduce new regulations for social media, digital media (including news outlets) and OTT platforms operating in India. These recent changes come at a time when technological developments in the country are pushing innovation and entire sectors amidst a pandemic exacerbated by the economic crisis.

What transpired in the lead up to the new regulations for social media platforms?

On February 10, 2021, Indian officials held a virtual meeting with the top leaders of Twitter. Government officials outlined that the social media giant is “welcome to do business in India,” but it had to follow the country’s laws “irrespective of Twitter’s own rules and guidelines”.

The meeting was the outcome of tensions between the Bharatiya Janata Party government and Twitter. The Modi government’s passage of new farm laws has ignited protests that are going on for nearly five months now. The government had asked Twitter to remove provocative hashtags and tweets from accounts used by alleged Sikh and Pakistani separatist groups.

Twitter outright pleaded that it would not block the accounts of media companies, journalists, activists and politicians because that would amount to the violation of the fundamental right to free expression under Indian law.

New rules and regulations- bringing everything under the government’s ambit

According to the new government regulations of February 26, 2021, intermediaries such as WhatsApp must identify the first “author” of the content and messages deemed a threat by the government. All such platforms will have to remove illegal content within 36 hours of receiving notification. The government issued these new rules in addition to the Information Technology Act 2000. The government clarified that it is not asking the intermediary to break any encryption by seeking to know the originator of the message.

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The government's motives behind these new rules seem to be that of a monitoring agency rather than an inhibitor of business.

New rules for social media sites- how will they function in the future?

New government regulations governing internet businesses such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter pose new challenges for the US social media giants in a large Indian market critical to their global reach.

Social media companies must revoke and takedown explicit porn-related content within 24 hours of reporting under the new rules. The companies are also expected to appoint agents and work with people living in India to coordinate law enforcement and handle complaints. They also need to help identify the “first real sender” of specific messages that pose some form of threat.

Representatives for Facebook and WhatsApp said Facebook has “always been clear as a company that we welcome regulations that set guidelines for addressing today’s toughest challenges on the Internet.”

How can the new changes impact SMEs running and advertising on social media platforms?

The new regulations majorly bring content assets and targeted content that can potentially harm the civil discourse and violate the Indian law under the purview. There does not seem to be an adversarial impact on the small businesses running via social media. Numerous small businesses have benefited from the campaigns and advertisement services offered by initiatives like Facebook for Business, Google Shops, Instagram Shop, Twitter ad campaigns.

The government’s motives behind these new rules seem to be that of a monitoring agency rather than an inhibitor of business. These mega-corporations bring vast opportunities for Indian people and continue to do so as long as no laws are violated. Nevertheless, what the future holds for businesses and content creators on these platforms cannot be ascertained. What can be said is that there is no immediate threat to any SME running through these platforms.

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