SOCIAL MEDIA BAN IN INDIA!

INTRODUCTION

Social media Kings like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram may face ban in India if they fail to implement the new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms. The three-month deadline given by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology to accept these guidelines was ended on 25th of May but none of these social media apps except KOO which is a indian app similar to TWITTER have so far accepted the new regulations.

The Government had announced a set of new rules for social media platforms, OTT players and digital media, Government of India declared that they will have to regularize the use and abuse of popular online platforms.

GUIDELINES GIVEN TO SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BY GOVT OF INDIA

These rules, which are called the information technology rules for 2021 apply not just to social media firms and intermediaries but also they apply to digital media websites, news websites which have come up in the kast few years and are online only. They also apply to OTT platforms such as NETFLIX, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, ALT BALAJI, everyone is covered by these new rules which also include digital media ethics code.

WHY HAD THE GOVT PUT OUT THESE RULES?

The government said that they have put out these laws because, they felt that there is some regulation which is needed for social media companies. This is a topic of debate worldwide not just in India. Various countries are taking different kinds of path regarding how to regulate big technology companies.

Government said that they have been receiving tons of complaints every day about women being harassed, their photos being shared, people being defamed on the internet and nobody seems to be doing something about it. That is why they have come up with this code and they want companies to self regulate in order to ensure the users are not harmed.

WHAT DO THE RULES SAY ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA INTERMEDIARIES?

Now with regard to social media intermediaries, the rules are actually taking away some of the safe harbour that they have typically enjoyed under the IT Act, and holding them more accountable for the content that is uploaded on these sites by their users. With regard to social media intermediaries the rules are actually making a distinction between what is a significant one and what is a regular social media intermediary.

The numbers which will decide who becomes a significant social media intermediary has not yet been decided by the Government but it is likely to be someone with more than 50 lakh users. That will mean that most big players will be covered under significant social media intermediary as part of the rules. The rules also call for social media intermediaries to have a grievance officer, a compliance officer, to have monthly reports to show whether they have complaint with some of the complainants that have been against them.

It basically says that users can raise issues if they feel that there is content which is against them, which is defamatory and it basically says that social media intermediaries connot host content which is raiding questions about the integrity of security of India, content which is sexually explicit, content which harms women and children. All of that kind of content which is typically illegal cannot be hosted by them and they need to proactively make sure that this is removed and make a monthly reports to show that they are doing what they say.

HOW WILL IT IMPACT END -TO- END ENCRYPTION SERVICES SUCH AS WHATSAPP?

First thing is they will have to give the originator of a message if and when the need arises for such issues. This means that WHATSAPP might be required to break into an encryption because end -to- end encryption means that nobody can read the content of the message to whom. So whatsapp doesn’t collect that data and this poses new problem for the application.

WHATSAPP has over 500 million users in India and it is still very popular despite that uproar over private policies. We will have to see how WhatsApp adapts to their new rules and will it mean for other end -to- end encryption apps like SIGNAL, TELEGRAM which are also gaining popularity in India.

WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES FOR OTT PLATFORMS?

OTT platforms such as NETFLIX, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO will also have to keep a tighter watch on the content that they are uploading on their platforms. The Government says this is being done to ensure that there is some kind of level playing field because, films typically are censored in India by tge CENSOR BOARD. The Government says thatbthey want them to self regulate and they should categories the content based on whether it is suitable for 16 year old, 13 years old or whether it is meant for adults, they have to make sure that adult content is not seen by children. They should have parental locks. According to the rules, any one who is below 18 is considered a child and they will have to add labels to their content.

HOW WILL THE RULES IMPACT USERS?

With regard to users, the rules are designed to empower them, this shouldn’t be taken negatively by the users. If you fell that your content has been unfairly blocked on any social media or a particular platform such as YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK…, you can raise an issue with Greinance Officer. Companies will have to tell you what they have done on the basis of your complaint as well.

So all of that might actually help the users. If you find that someone or a company or a organization is posting content say, for women, if their personal photos or any personal information are being shared on a platform they can actually raise a complaint to the platform and ask them to resolve it. So in this way it can empower users. But, it also means that users also need to keep in mind about content that they are uploading on these platforms. They also need to make sure that they are not uploading anything which abuses a person or which is illegal.

As of February 2021, India had 530 million people who used WhatsApp for their essential needs, 448 million watched YouTube daily, 410 million people used Facebook, 210 million used Instagram, and 17.5 million used Twitter. So if Indian Government bans such most used apps in the country then it would lead to huge economic loss to many people all over the country. We hope all these app developers will manage to reach the Government needs and save the apps from getting banned in the country.

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