Democracy Special
Data Protection + Protests and Violence
This week we cover the stories from two major democracies of the world, highlighting the role of social media, protests, public health and right to be heard. Along with this, our analysts have reflected on two major tech policies of India: Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 and Digital India Campaign.
Transfer of Power: The US Way
6 days into 2021 and the year has already been declared crazy by netizens. On January 6 2021, Trump supporters expressed their dissent to the election of Joe Biden by taking to the streets of Washington DC and later stormed into US Capitol. These demonstrators were wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ T-shirts, and waving Trump 2020 flags.
Role of Donald Trump- Ever Since the projection of Joe Biden as President-Elect, Mr Trump took to social media and called the election ‘rigged’, ‘Stop Counting’ and “We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.”
He was repeatedly criticised, especially when he defended the mob after they tried to take over the Capitol. Despite the violence and chaos, the congress went ahead to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
In other news, Social Media Giants took a stand. Finally.
Facebook and Instagram have put an indefinite ban on Donald Trump’s accounts. Twitter had also taken down his account for 12 hours and had put off his three tweets. Post that, on January 7 2021, he uploaded a video where he acknowledged Joe Biden as the incoming US President.
India’s Tale for Vaccine and Immunisation
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) early in this week, approved two vaccines- Serum Institute’s Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca ChAdOx-1 vaccine) and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Covaxin has been recommended only for the emergency use, but the doubts exist over its approval despite no data has been released by the company yet.
Bharat BioTech published its Phase-2 trial results on a non-peer-reviewed website on 22 December, with a follow up of Phase-1. The opposition and analysts have raised questions over its credibility and its approval.
What About The Protesting Farmers?
Indian Farmers have been protesting on the borders of the National Capital for 44 days now. The struggle is not getting easy and there is no hope to rely yet, as the eight-round of meeting with the government ended on an inconclusive note. Farmers are also organising a ‘tractor rally’ on the Republic Day.
Analysis and Opinions
Manasvini Abhyankar reflects upon Data Protection Bill of 2019, and how well does it meet the data related issues and concerns of the coming times.
Akhila Nair talks about Digital India Campaign of the current Indian Government, and how well does it deal with issues pertaining to accessibility and availability.
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