Should the authority of monitoring contents in Social media need to be vested with independent agency ? Comment(200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The platform exerts immense influence on the social, economic and political outcomes of a country.
· Face book has been accused of looking the other way when its platform was being allegedly misused to influence democratic processes in the US.
· It has also been accused of not doing enough to prevent users’ data from being leaked to entities which generated billions in profit. Such a platform cannot be trusted to do its own policing.
· On the other hand, governments, armed with draconian powers such as defamation and sedition laws, free speech has taken a hit.
· India has been among the top countries in blocking politically inconvenient websites, including those of foreign NGOs, UN organisations and activists.
Why need to setup an independent body
· Better transparency, accountability, consistency in regulating the contents.
· Less interference from the Governments.
· Effectively arresting fake news spread, genuine news, information reaches people, upholding essence of right to information.
· Presence of experts, analysts in the independent agency brings professionalism to the domain, thereby enhancing its efficiency.
· No ambiguity regarding the grounds for taking down an account, the guidelines should be spelt clearly.
