Social Media Accountability

In News 

Recently, the Chief Justice of India objected to the lack of media accountability in the media’s coverage of legal issues. 

About 

• Social Media has emerged as a powerful platform for forming an opinion as well as generating mass support. 
• It can connect policymakers to stakeholders in real-time. 
• Individual Interaction also enables the marginalised to participate in discussions and present their point of view, thereby improving the political position of marginalised or vulnerable groups. 
• Leveraging these platforms can help the government to counter unverified facts and frivolous misleading rumours and present the facts to enable informed opinion-making. 

Issues /Challenges 

• Disconnect from eventual outcomes
  • In criminal cases that attract the most sensationalist media coverage, media attention is often drawn toward investigation and early trial stages, with a notable disconnect from eventual outcomes of trial that follow several months or even years after an arrest. 
  • Reportage of this nature violates the presumption of innocence and the right to dignity and the privacy of suspects, the accused, victims, witnesses and persons closely related to them.
  • They often face social ostracisation and difficulties in retaining employment, making them vulnerable to crime and exploitation.

• Political pressure 
  • Police narratives are sometimes designed to achieve political goals, and the media’s ready acceptance of these narratives does little to prevent their insidious effects. 
    • Given the media’s ability to shape political opinion, law enforcement agencies are sometimes under pressure to selectively reveal certain facets of the investigation or to mischaracterize incidents as communal or systemic. 
• Privacy & Security: 
  • The primary challenge posed by social media is privacy. Many people restrain themselves from taking part in a dialogue with a fear of losing their privacy.

• Regulation issues  
  • Current media regulation is limited, and  Government regulation is not uniform for print and television media and enforcement of these regulations, where it occurs, is slow. 
  • In any event, Government regulation of the media is problematic and likely to increase politicisation of the press. 
  • Most States have issued disparate media policy guidelines with weak enforcement mechanisms through administrative circulars whose contents remain unknown to the public. 
  • Most police departments do not have dedicated media cells, making officials of all levels authoritative sources of information and blurring the boundaries between an official and informal police account of events.
  • This weak regulatory environment effectively leaves reporting norms to the conscience of reporters and their editors.

Impacts 

• Ignorance of nuances of the justice system has significant implications for citizens whom it is meant to protect, and contributes considerably to the public apprehension and mistrust in the system.

Court’s Interventions and demand  of stakeholders 

• Courts have repeatedly directed law enforcement authorities not to reveal details of their investigations, especially the personal details of the accused, before trial is complete (notably, the Supreme Court in Romila Thapar vs Union of India, (2018) 10 SCC 753). 
• A range of stakeholders now demand stronger regulation of communication channels between law enforcement and the media.
  • In an ongoing case, the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties asked the Supreme Court to issue guidelines to regulate media briefings by the police to ensure fair trial. 
  • This has left the judiciary with no choice but to deliberate on binding directives to the police

Way Ahead

• Accountability on social media and protection of personal data are also important to regulate the misuse of social media platforms.
• The media needs to aid mechanisms that aim to preserve the basic principles of the justice system
• The media’s immense power to shape narratives regarding public conceptions of justice makes it a close associate of the justice system, bringing with it a responsibility to uphold the basic principles of our justice system. 
  • The media should feel subject to the obligation to do its part in aiding mechanisms that aim to preserve these principles.
•  On the other hand, a structured and well-designed media policy with training and enforcement mechanisms is the need of the hour for the police.