SWADESHI SOCIAL

Local social media players are disrupting a market dominated by global tech giants. New government regulations could accelerate the churn

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

Information is power. And, the battle playing out between Big Government and Big Tech is to control that power. While the collateral damage of this tussle could be your freedom of expression, the advantage may well belong to a bunch of upstarts—India’s up-and-coming desi social media players.

Though there have been many attempts by the government over the years to muzzle social media, intermediary rules that came into effect after a three-month grace period two weeks ago are the most lethal yet. They make it mandatory for social media companies to appoint nodal officers to take down posts that authorities find objectionable, and trace the origin of messages on services like WhatsApp.

“The government is committed to ensuring the right of privacy to citizens… but no fundamental right is absolute,” said IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. “The rule to trace the first originator of [a] message is required for prevention, investigation or punishment of very serious offences.”

But privacy activists are not convinced. “Big tech like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Google often make terrible policies and decisions that harm millions of Indians… [but these] rules do not fix these issues and end up harming your rights,” said Apar Gupta, executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation.