As soon as the tech giants got everyone hooked onto Social Media, the Govt. came up with a new strategy. They not only wanted to save users from Social Media but also to know what’s happening behind the curtains!
💻 A World Without Social Media
🦜 Hey, kid! I want you to spill your guts, tell us everything! – Indian Govt. to Social Media Platforms: On Feb 25th, 2021, India introduced stronger policies and updated the guidelines for all social media platforms which have over 5 million users. This includes the tech giants like – Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, etc. They were given a 3-month deadline to accept the policy and make necessary changes!
But what was the policy exactly?
The policy had 3 major points for social media platforms –
- Appoint a chief compliance officer and have a nodal contact person who will be in touch with the law enforcement agencies 24/7
- Ensure not to host or store any prohibited content in the context of India’s sovereignty, integrity, defamation, and incitement to offense.
- If something published is classified as offensive by a court or the government the content needs to be taken down within 36 hours
🃏 Let’s hide behind the Privacy Card: Social Media platforms played the privacy card stating that if they accepted these policies – they will have to let go of end-to-end encryption. Meaning… none of its users can be guaranteed any kind of privacy.
🧐 Whatsapp ended up putting a bold move forward by suing the Indian Government to abolish the new guidelines and respect the privacy of its user.
🕵️ But, will the government spy on us then?
According to the Union Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Govt. of India is committed to ensuring the users have their Right to Privacy. But at the same time, it’s the governments’ responsibility to ensure that the law is followed and national security isn’t in jeopardy.
🧐 The End of Social Media ❓ All the social media lovers out there, the answer is NO! Social Media apps won’t get banned if they don’t accept these policies. So, you can continue scrolling though instagram 😛
They can still operate in India but they will lose out on their intermediary’s protection & status. In layman’s terms, this means that the websites can be held responsible for the content which is posted on their platforms.
Finally,
🤵 What do the Industry Leaders have to say about this?
Zoho founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu stated that the social media giants aren’t bigger than the government and need to comply with the laws of the land. These companies cannot dictate terms.
Sanjay Hegde, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court stated that these social media platforms are intermediaries and shall be protected but, they need to accept the laws of the country they want to serve.
Chinese in Canada – Crazy Tax Story
The Canadian Govt in 1885 passed the Chinese Head Tax. It required every Chinese to pay a $50 head tax upon immigrating to Canada. In 1923, the Chinese Immigrants were altogether banned under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Is being born in a different country so wrong that you have to pay for it?
💭 Byte of The Day
