Social Media Laws and its implication
BY: SEVA DAS,
Introduction
The current age is the age of technology. Technology has given birth to various innovative tools that have helped us in a variety of fields, starting from efficient machines that help in scanning our brains to vacuum cleaners that reduce our home workload. One of these tools that technology has given us Social Media.
In the older days, transmitting a simple message to a person living far away used to be a slow and difficult task but with the advent of new-age technology, it is as if we are communicating face to face. We have the features of instant texting, videocalling or send sending voice notes. As much as life has become more convenient, it comes with its own set of dangers. The rate and range of social media crimes increasing by the day is alarming and disturbing. While we are a democratic country and the Constitution guarantees us the right of free speech and expression, it doesn’t go unregulated and unrestricted. This right is a fundamental right, but it is not absolute. Similarly, social media being a source of easy and fast communication, it can also spread the wrong, unlawful and undesired information among the masses in the same easy and fast manner. Hence, it calls for better and stricter regulation.
Evolution Internet has become widely available, while that is great achievement, it is also very dangerous if misutilised. Children of any age can get their hands on the internet and due to their gullible age, can walk into misled paths. In a recent statement by the Joint Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad’s Detection of Crime Branch, has said that the total losses due to cyber crimes were estimated to be around 6 trillion dollars.
Commonly accessed online platforms such as YouTube, Wikipedia etc., are more concerning than the seem on the surface. Any sort of rumour can be quickly spread across the globe with a few clicks, but the consequences of these rumours can disrupt the law and order, at times even hamper the security of the nation. In the recent case of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, where a social media status glorifying the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had led to massive protests and unrest. Some common cases of social media crimes are such as cyber bullying, phishing, revenge porn, hate speech, fake news. While these are only a few, the actual list goes on. From this, it can be fairly concluded that social media cannot go absolutely unregulated.
To this effect, the Government of India has made stringent amendments to the Information Technology Act in 2021, and in addition to that, has further laid down more improvements in the form of 2022 Notified
Amendments and 2023 Draft Amendments. After the amendment, more stress has put on the intermediaries, which are the social media platforms, to check and ensure that its users are properly complying with the rules and regulations laid down by the legislature. Under the IT Rules, no user is allowed or permitted to create, upload or share any content that could threaten the unity of India or public order. Same is for any such content that is pornographic, violates copyright or patent, or contains software virus. The amendment has majorly pressurized the intermediaries be more watchful and prevent any such content that could infringe upon the rights and privacy of a citizen guaranteed in Part III of the Indian Constitution. It is very important to be careful and vigilant in case of social media offences as anybody pretending to be any body else could commit these offences. Since these are different from our conventional offences where it is possible to see and catch the offender at the spot, it becomes trickier for law enforcement agencies to track down these offenders. The offenders usually commit these crimes from behind a screen, it makes them more confident. While it is not possible or even desirable for a government to keep track of the activities of all the citizens as it invades the privacy and destroys the whole concept of a democracy, it must be able to track individuals immediately when they share any unlawful content and expeditiously remove the content.
For this to happen, there need to be more efficient ways to distinguish among the content that is shared on social media. A very important aspect of clamping down on these offences is to provide better redressal. The process needs to be smoother and more expeditious.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA LAWS
For the smooth governance of a democratic country such as ours, it is important to have the coordination and cooperation of the citizens. Any law that is enacted by the Parliament cannot be implemented properly if people go against the very existence of that law. Many enactments have still not been enforced in the country due to potential clash between the government and the people. The social media laws are in a way restrict our right to free speech and expression guaranteed in Article 19 of the Constitution. Some might even argue that this practice of the Government takes away the autonomy of the social media platforms.
A good number of people even argue that if this keeps on happening and the government starts to keep track to all the activities of social media users, it might lead to autocracy of the government, which is the complete opposite of a how a democratic country should be. Another such contention of people is that it invades the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. All of these arguments are not vague. But can the protection of an individual’s right and privacy be hampered due to another’s unrestricted rash acts? Can the integrity, unity and sovereignty of a nation be compromised due to the same reason?
The Government must act as a watchdog of our rights, but it must not exceed and misuse its powers while acting in that capacity. One’s right is necessary for another’s duty. To protect one’s right from being infringed, others must perform their duty.
