INTRODUCTION
We live in a technological age, and social media has significantly changed our lives and become a necessary component of how we go about our daily business. In the past, traditional media like newspapers, radio, and television were available, but today’s social media platforms allow users to create their own content. Additionally, there is the idea of “viral,” which has the power to disseminate information among thousands of users. Social media has emerged as the main medium for interpersonal communication, whether it be for just amusing reasons, professional purposes, or connected to academics. It also holds our personal information, thus the government must regulate it to shield the public from cybercrime.
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
It is the network of individuals and groups interacting with one another. They may be used with the aid of PCs, laptops, and mobile phones and are also used to exchange their contents amongst people who have the same interests. On these forums, individuals used to work together to promote public awareness of various topics and their own points of view.
Although it’s difficult to see the person every day, an individual connection is equally crucial, and thanks to these platforms, we can keep in touch with them. Additionally, this helps them express their opinions and gather feedback.
TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
People and governments all around the world utilise this categorization, which was created in 2010 by Kalpan and Haenlein.
- Social networking: is the most popular platform that the greatest amount of people utilises. It offers the ability to communicate, which includes sending and receiving messages, exchanging photographs, and file sharing. It consists of 800 million-user Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and so on.
- Blogs: are made and managed by the user, who is also able to provide descriptive material for them. The primary benefit of blogs is that readers may remark on the information provided above and follow the comment trail. It is typically used to gather feedback from the public and shape public opinion.
- Microblogs: This sort of blog is restricted to having content that does not exceed the word count of 140. The reader may read this and leave comments on it, for example, through Twitter and SMS messaging.
- YouTube and vlogs are two platforms where videos are shared among users. Additionally, viewers are able to remark on it. They may view the live videos as well. A video may serve as both a report on progress and a thousand-word speech.
- Wikis: these allow users to build and edit pages linked to any topic and may contain links to other sources, such as Wikipedia, which is the most frequently viewed website worldwide.
SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATIONS IN INDIA
- Constitution of India: Article 19 of the Indian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to free speech and expression and that the state may not impose restrictions on that right through the passage of legislation. However, article 16 of the Constitution does identify some legitimate limitations on such rights (2). Therefore, anybody can read, publish, and remark on any topic, but these activities are not subject to the reasonable limits that the government imposes for the benefit of its residents and the nation as a whole.
- Information Technology Act: Section 66A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) is solely dedicated to and governs social media material. It forbids the transmission of any objectionable audio, video, text messages, or recorded information. This forbids the dissemination of any electronic message or material that is untrue but is sent with the intent to annoy, harm, or insult others. This is done with the intent to commit crimes and incite animosity among the populace. It could also deceive the individual.
But in the historic Shreya Singal v. UOI2 ruling from 2015, the highest court overturned section 66A of the IT Act and upheld the right to free expression in modern society.
- Indian Penal code (IPC): The provisions of the IPC should be applied to anybody who violates the aforementioned laws. similar to section 295A: purposefully offending religious sentiments. Section 153A: encouraging hostility between groups on the basis of race, religion, etc. Section 499 deals with libel, while Section 505 deals with statements that incite public annoyance. Section 509: Disrespecting women’s modesty. Sections 124A and 506 deal with sedition and criminal intimidation, respectively. Sections 499 and 500 of the legislation are the primary safeguards against social media misuse. According to this, anybody who makes a defamatory comment in writing or verbally with the goal to destroy someone’s reputation faces legal consequences.
- Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act: Sections 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act of 1998 prevent women from engaging in pornography and penalise those who spread obscene content. The IPC’s Sections 292-293 also imposed penalties for obscenity, including pornography.
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE RECOMMENDATIONS BY GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS:
The government agency made contact with stakeholders and heard the concerns and voices of the public through various channels. Additionally, this is done to make sure that the public is involved in the creation of public policy.
- Objective: this translates to what the organization’s motivation is for using social media. This may be done to engage the public, advance a policy, boost brand loyalty, or just raise awareness.
- Platform: It might be a self-publishing platform like YouTube or a social bookmarking site like Amazon. It depends on how long the engagement will last and how best to conduct it. Whether information is accessible to the general public or only to specific specialists, or stakeholders, and whether or not using it is permitted by law.
- Governance: By supplying specific login IDs and passwords, that company must have an online identity. How and in what format the information will be updated? As well as the structure of the answer, how it will be communicated to each person, and who will be in charge of what duty.
- Communication strategy: What kind of material should be posted? Do not publish unconfirmed material to spread rumours or other false information.
- Making the pilot: When implementing a new social media, we should do a test run before making it public to determine its effectiveness and efficiency for the organization’s stated goals.
- Institutionalizing social media: is the last stage before it can be used to make decisions about policies, events, and website upgrades.
INTERNATIONAL LAWS REGARDING SOCIAL MEDIA
Germany: created Germany’s NetzDG law, which established a process for reviewing the contents. If any unlawful information is published, it must be removed within 24 hours, and the law also requires periodic reporting on the situation. If they don’t take down the content, they must face a punishment of 5 million euros per person and 50 million euros per firm. In July 2019, Facebook was also penalised.
European Union: They place a lot of attention on terrorist videos, and if the content is not removed within an hour, they risk receiving hefty fines. The General Data Protection Regulations, which the EU also established, set guidelines for how businesses and social media platforms must use the data of their users. These regulations must be incorporated into member nations’ domestic laws by 2021.
Australia: In 2019, Australia approved the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material Act, which has criminal penalties, including jail terms of up to three years. Moreover, the penalty is 10% of the company’s global revenue.
The Enhancing Online Safety Act was introduced in 2015 to require social media firms to delete harassing and abusive posts; otherwise, they might face fines of up to A$ 525,000 for businesses and A$ 105,000 for individuals.
Russia: enacted legislation in November 2019 allowing for the emergency disconnection of Internet connections. And in accordance with their data law, they are only allowed to keep Russians’ data there. Due to their violation of the guidelines and failure to reveal their subsequent compliance plan, they also barred LinkedIn and penalised Facebook.
China: Twitter, Google, and Whatsapp have all been blocked in China. They provide services through WeChat, Baidu, and web applications. China’s Cyberspace Administration reported closing 733 websites and 9,382 mobile applications at the end of January 2019. They have a cyber police force that keeps an eye on social media sites and detects posts with sensitive political content.
COMMITTEE REPORTS REGARDING SOCIAL MEDIA
Jairam Ramesh served as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha Adhoc Committee, which looked into the problem of pornography on social media and its impact on children and society.
The POCSO legislation should be expanded, according to the committee’s recommendations, to protect children from porn. Additionally, it should incorporate both textual and audio elements. There should be an age limit, no content connected to child exploitation, and information about numerous languages in order to safeguard children from these social media platforms. To eliminate cyberbullying, there has to be an awareness campaign and training for people.
Along with State Commissions on the Protection of Child Rights, there should be a National Commission on the Protection of Child Rights as authorised authority. And the NCRB will document and communicate every instance of child pornography.
The Rajiv Gauba Committee, led by a union home secretary, provided a report on mob lynchings that had occurred as a result of several false posts on social media. In which the false rumours cause the deaths of 20 individuals.
The committee advises banning these social media accounts’ harmful posts. And if these websites don’t ban, a police report may be filed against them. There are many laws but few law enforcement organisations. to create a national site where such content would be sent to the National Crime Records Bureau and the relevant state.
The centre requested that states and union territories form a unique task force to thoroughly monitor social media information and stop false news.
TikTok’s suspension is the latest social media scandal.
It all began when the Madras High Court ordered the state government to prohibit the downloading of the Tik Tok App and label it harmful to children in April 2019. The Indian government forbade it on June 29, 2020, citing threats to the country’s security, public order, sovereignty and integrity. This action of banning was taken in accordance with the terms of the 2009 Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Restricting Access of Information by Public) Rules read in conjunction with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
Several sources have complained to the ministry of electronics and IT that it is illegally taking customer data and sending it outside of India. The Home Ministry’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre also provided advice for preventing harmful Apps.
CONCLUSION:
There are 3.725 billion active social media users, and they spend an average of 142 minutes each day on the network, according to social media data. Additionally, there is a sharp increase of 328 million users between 2018 and 20197. This proves that social media has taken over a significant portion of our lives. There are other social media movements as well. Take the well-known #Metoo campaign, in which everyone—including celebrities—took part and shared their experiences. This movement grew to such a size that many participants were sentenced to prison under local laws. Another campaign is to #bringbackRolacola, a confection produced by the Parle Company. Social media is both a blessing and a curse, allowing individuals to connect with loved ones but also making them vulnerable to cyberbullying and other forms of abuse. Therefore, in addition to passing strict rules on the subject, the government should also establish an efficient law enforcement organisation to prevent misuse.