Infodemic is the new trending term on social media and other platforms, but what does it mean?
Infodemic refers to the overflow of information about an issue that is unreliable and spreads massively! Well it's not new, state and companies have been on edge over such issues, and topics like data privacy and misinformation too have been on top priority.
India recently went proactive about it with the Personal Data Protection Bill in 2018, though it is still under discussion. However, recently, the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, were introduced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It was passed in parliament on February 25 and into force on 26th May 2021. It was initiated in 2018 but gained the attention of the government in 2021.
What’s the big deal?
These rules direct the social media platforms ( a new section of Significant Social Media Intermediaries) to remove :
Any content flagged by the authorities, to be removed within 36 hours.
Any content that threatens “the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India,” public order, decency, morality, or incitement to an offence.
Any posts depicting nudity or morphed photos to be removed within 24 hours of receiving a complaint-[Rule 3(2)(b)].
Rule 3(2)- It also states that all social media giants must set up a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer who is a resident of India.
As per the new rules :
(Rule 4 (2))- Messaging platforms like Whatsapp will have to keep a tab on the information or the ‘First Originator’ of any message which can harm the ‘security of the nation’ by breaking end to end encryptions and giving access to the government.
Rule 4(4)- Requires significant social media intermediaries to develop automated tools to censor content and the efficacy of such tools is itself doubtful.
What if the Social media platforms don't comply with it?
Rule 7 - They will lose their ‘intermediary status’, which means no more legal immunity To explain further, once these platforms lose the immunity(section 79 of IT act, which provides this immunity will not be applicable on these platforms), anyone who does not like the content posted on these platforms, can make both the person who posts the content and the social media company to court under Indian Penal code.
Response of the companies:
Will Cathcart, head of Whatsapp, said the company was “still digesting them and understanding what they mean, or don’t mean,” in a podcast by journalist Alex Kantrowitz. They have even filed a legal suit against the Indian government, stating privacy as the key reason.
Twitter expressed its concerns about the Rules. They believe that regulation is beneficial when it safeguards citizen’s fundamental rights and reinforces online freedom.
(Sources: Freedom Gazette, Internet Freedom Foundation, Scroll.in, Jagran English)
Twitter Vs Government of India
Twitter’s ‘Manipulated Media’ tag has been a bone of contention between users and the company since forever. Initially, Donald Trump's tweet was tagged with the same to which the party criticised and questioned the company too during the 2020 elections. Now, Twitter is facing a similar situation with the Indian government. The disagreement between Twitter and GOI is long-drawn, and this tag and trending of the hashtag ‘Indian Variant’, (WHO has just classified it as B.1.617), has made the relationship a bit more complicated.
WhatsApp Vs Government of India
Facebook (will comply with the new rules) owned WhatsApp sued the government over these laws. The lawsuit says that these laws are unconstitutional and violate the right to privacy. However, the government dismissed that point and stated that “no fundamental right is absolute and the rules are "reasonable restrictions".
As per Whatsapp, traceability won’t be an effective way to trace the originator of the message because even if someone copy-pastes the content on WhatsApp and sends it to others, that person will be held liable and through this approach, innocent people will get caught up in investigations and even go to jail.
(Sources: Business Standard)
Both sides of the coin
Positive
Supporters of the act have stated that with these IT Rules, on a six months basis the social media intermediaries have to publish transparency reports which will include:
1)The procedure of how they dealt with the content,
2) How they implemented the tools to filter the content and many more things
3)It will be an excellent way of understanding the government and social media’s view of censorship.
Negative
1)The penalties on the companies under the Indian penal code.
2)The lack of clarity on the content which would be prohibited or removed.
3)The responsibility of just one Chief Compliance Officer for millions of users, who can be held liable, if the company fails to meet any requirement by the law along with facing 7 years of prison time.
(Sources: Down To Earth, Global Network Initiative.org)
Recent Development
Koo, Sharechat, Telegram, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook and WhatsApp have complied with New Rules and shared the list of their Chief Compliance Officer, Nodal Contact Person, and Grievance Officer.
What else is happening?
Paytm India’s leading payment provider aims to raise about $ 3 billion in an IPO (Initial public offering) later this year.
As per France’s Pasteur Institute, Pfizer Vaccine is less effective but appears to protect against the variant found in India.
As per a U.N body, the world may breach 1.5 Celsius warmings within the next 5 years temporarily.
Covid cases in world’ most vaccinated nation- Seychelles are increasing, which has left public health officials without explanation. The country had fully vaccinated 64% of its population.
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