HAVING the ability to control what can be written or discussed by the public is a power that every government craves to some extent. Social media content moderation raises unique questions of free speech as a forum of public discourse; the social media platforms are a unique method of expressing one’s concern on an open platform. However, the uneven application of the content moderation scheme on the social media platforms has been a major concern.
The basic concept of censorship is someone in authority deciding what is acceptable viewership for the community, based on some moral and societal guidelines. The advent of social media brings with it the problem of anyone being able to voice an opinion under the garb of anonymity, even to the extent of harming public sentiments. The government of India, in order to tackle such problems in a diverse democracy, such as ours, brought into effect the IT rules 2021 to regulate social media intermediaries. On October 28, 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology MeitY) made amendments to the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).
The main reasons given by the government to amend the rules were to protect the rights and interests of citizens from big-tech companies, to provide for a much-needed mechanism to address and deal with the grievances of the public and to make sure that these do not adversely affect nascent Indian start-ups. These amendments have marked a shift in tone for obligating tech giants—from merely informing their users of regulations adhering to the norms to now making reasonable efforts” to prevent the posting and propagation of objectionable content.
Denne historien er fra December 12, 2022-utgaven av India Legal.
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Denne historien er fra December 12, 2022-utgaven av India Legal.
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PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
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The Big Lie
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Star Crossed
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Myanmar's Misery
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AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
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