Blocking of Internet Content: Government v/s Twitter Row

In News: The government expressed “strong displeasure” about Twitter’s response to the emergency order.

• Government wanted Twitter to block more than a thousand accounts for alleged spread of provocative content and misinformation on the farmer protests.

What is the controversy?

• Pro-Government v/s Anti-Government Sentiments:
  • The government is pushing Agrarian reforms via three acts, providing the private sector a bigger role in its quest to empower farmers.
  • Whereas the farmers especially from Punjab, Haryana and Western UP are fearing that security of Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be slowly diluted after these reforms.
  • There are many fake news circling Social Media. For these propaganda, no responsibility was taken by Social Media Giants.
• Involvement of Foreign Celebrities in Farm Protest v/s Sovereignty over the internal matters of India.
  • Recent tweets by Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, etc were seen as involvement of foreign celebrities in India’s internal matters.
  • There were allegations that Social Media Companies are not helping the government curb anti- National secessionist elements viz Khalistan and others.
• Dichotomy in actions of Social Media Giants and need to regulate them
  • Indian Government has also pointed out the dual stance of Twitter in the US Capitol Incident and Farm Protest Incident of India.

Need for Regulation and Stringent Laws:

• Fake News spreads faster than Real News: Seeing increasing mob lynching cases targetting specific communities and innocent people, Supreme Court was forced to intervene by issuing directives.
• Data Theft: Data is the oil of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
  • The companies sharing and keeping data abroad are often violating the Right to Privacy and Ownership of Self Data of Indian Citizens
• Dual Standards: Social Media Firms are often taking different stands in different countries.
  • Viz they provide better control to Europeans over their Privacy as compared to Indians.
• Internal Security: Digital Frauds are increasing due to different flaws in algorithms of Social Media.

What are the laws for regulating Social Media?

• Information Technology (IT) Act 2000 Social Media have to follow the intermediaries guidelines under IT Act 2000 and Indian Penal Code (IPC).
  • Criticism: It was misused by the government to silence even constructive criticism.
  • Due to the rampant misuse, Supreme Court declared Section 66A of IT Act as unconstitutional in Shreya Singhal v/s Union of India Case 2015. 
• Government Directives: Social Media Channels need to take down any content as directed by Court or Law Enforcement Agencies.
• Community Guidelines: There are provisions related to reporting mechanisms to involve citizens in community policing over obscene and immoral posts. But here the discretion of Social Media Platforms plays a dominant role.
  • Criticism of this Discretion: Many posts on Body Positivity and Menstruation were taken down while other explicit images continued under the Right to Artistic Expression.

What is the debate about?

• Setting the boundaries to freedom of Speech and Expression
  • Free Speech means one’s ability to express oneself in whatever way one wants.
  • Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution empowers all citizens with the right to freedom of speech and expression.
  • Article 19 (2): It empowers the government to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions upon the freedom of speech and expression “in the interests of
    • interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India,
    • the security of the State,
    • friendly relations with foreign States,
    • public order,
    • decency or
    • morality or
    • in relation to contempt of court,
    • defamation or incitement to an offence.”
  • Section 69A of IT Act 2000 also provides for similar provisions as Article 19(2).
  • No Harm Principle of J S Mill: Government should not interfere until there is substantial harm to the people.
  • Different Supreme Court Rulings (like Kedar Nath Singh V/s State of Bihar 1962 and Shreya Singhal v/s Union of India case, 2015) allow constructive criticism of Government and its Policies.

Way Ahead

• The current regime is not capable enough to meet the requirements of emerging challenges.
• Hence there is a need to create a Code on Regulation of Social Media which may consolidate the provisions of different regulatory acts and enable constructive Freedom of Speech.

Source: TH