(Businesshala) — India is increasingly moving forward in its efforts to control online communications, challenging the practices of Twitter and Facebook, and threatening to set a precedent that may extend far beyond its borders.
The largest US internet firms are fighting new intermediary rules issued by Narendra Modi’s government in February that they say undermine privacy and free speech. Officials are calling on Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc to remove hundreds of posts this year, reveal sensitive user information and submit to a regulatory regime that includes possible prison terms for executives if the companies do not comply.
While the administration’s push to exert more control over user data and online discourse reflects efforts on a global scale with tech giants and their enormous influence, the stakes in India are particularly high for internet firms because – outside of China – it There are only billions of people in the market to grab. In contrast to authoritarian regimes such as Beijing, critics fear that actions by the world’s largest democracy could offer a blueprint for other governments to encroach on personal privacy in the name of domestic security.
“India has made drastic changes to its rules,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in April. They “open new possibilities for government surveillance of citizens. These rules threaten the idea of a free and open Internet based on international human rights standards.”
Holding Internet companies responsible for posted content – and in some cases, holding officials personally liable – is beyond the demand of many countries and a major point of contention. Millions of people of India are trapped in this tug of war, whose way of connecting to the Internet is now hanging in the balance. Facebook’s WhatsApp is arguing in court that the new rules would bypass its encryption, a key feature the company touted in global marketing.
Given its role as the social platform of choice for politicians and celebrities, Modi’s administration has trained its sights on Twitter in recent months. Cabinet ministers have accused the US company of disobeying orders and suggested it should be stripped of its arbiter position – making it directly accountable for content posted by its users. In May, Twitter labeled “manipulated media” on tweets from multiple accounts linked to Modi’s party. Police investigators have since called in senior officers and its offices, threatening businesses in the world’s second most populous country.
“Twitter is not a win-win situation here,” said Mike Masnick, founder of tech policy blog TechDirt. “Giving in to excessive government demands not only stifles critical speech, but opens up the company to even more pressure to silence government critics in India and elsewhere.”
Representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), which oversees the regulation, did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment. Representatives for WhatsApp and Twitter declined to comment beyond previous statements that they would aim to comply with government regulations.
India has said it welcomes criticism and dissent and that its new rules aim to protect public order and prevent harmful content such as child pornography and abuse videos. The country has been grappling with an explosion of fake news on social media in recent years, much of it largely targeting first-time Internet audiences not accustomed to sifting through online lies. It came into conflict with Facebook in 2018 when the government asked WhatsApp to stop the spread of messages regarding two dozen lynchings. Facebook’s response was then to restrict the forwarding of messages and label them as “forwarded”.
WhatsApp has over 530 million users in India, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has nearly 450 million and Facebook has over 410 million users, making it the largest market for all three. Twitter, a comparatively small one with 17.5 million users, counts India as one of its fastest growing regions. But that limited reach makes it vulnerable in a nation that has shown itself ready to ban popular overseas services a year ago when it banned TikTok – which saw 200 million users sign up in the country. Did – WeChat and hundreds more China-made apps followed one after the other violent clashes on the disputed border between the two countries.
However, like the US, Twitter exerts an influence out of proportion to its size. It is vital to political discussions in India and Modi himself is an avid user and has a follower of over 69 million, showing his international reach. While ministers have made belligerent tweets about Twitter, so far no one has spoken openly about the threat of banning it.
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Even as it clashes with China, India can still draw inspiration from its neighbour’s experience, where the void left by foreign social platforms has been blocked to resist stringent censorship, leading to the development of domestic alternatives. The place has been created. In fact, Modi’s aides have been actively teasing local micro-blogging rival Ku.
Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at Facebook, said, “I have to imagine that Modi is looking at China and thinking they can achieve economic prosperity, while also exerting a lot of authoritarian control over speech and communication. ” Fall 2013, before Modi’s first election as prime minister, until earlier this year. “So the big question is, in which direction will India go?”
Much of the current rancor stems from pressure from the government to moderate the conversation around farmer protests since November, which have focused on proposals to tax agricultural inputs and remove minimum price support. The administration forced Twitter to block some popular figures expressing support for the protesters – such as Punjabi singer JazzyBee, whose account has 1.2 million followers but cannot be used within India – although the company has not implemented all its requests.
Harbath said lawmakers in the US and the European Union should pay more attention to the South Asian country. Like Masnik, she sees some good options for private companies to oppose the laws outlined above, and it will be up to the international community to steer India down a more liberal path.
The US has adopted India in recent years as a countermeasure to China, boosting defense cooperation as part of the quad group of four countries that also includes fellow democracies Japan and Australia. For its part, Modi’s administration has sought to attract firms seeking to diversify supply chains away from China – giving it the impetus to maintain good relations with the Biden administration and the US business community at large. is.
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Relations with American social platforms were much warmer and more cooperative in the early years of the Modi government. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hosted Modi for a town hall event at the company’s headquarters in 2015. The two men hugged and smiled for the camera. But, Harbath said, whenever the administration’s popularity has declined following moves like abrupt currency demonetisation in 2016, it has become more aggressive in trying to drive the public narrative.
Recently, Modi’s government has come under fire from critics on Twitter, who say it thwarted efforts to fight Covid-19. In response, it has sought to stop the recent criticism on Twitter, where anger and dismay appear in India’s leader.
“Silicon Valley social media platforms have a huge base in India and the conflict is over as to who controls these users,” said Tarun Pathak, Delhi-based research director, Counterpoint. “Over the next three to five years, roughly 300 million new users, equivalent to the US population, will go online in India, shifting the balance of power for these companies east.”
Twitter appointed an interim compliance officer two weeks ago after its peers appointed permanent representatives, and the man stepped down. A company spokesperson declined to confirm or comment on the reasons.
According to the company, MEITY chief Ravi Shankar Prasad had temporarily locked his Twitter account on Friday due to a complaint of alleged copyright infringement. Upon gaining access, often adversaries of Twitter wrote that its “actions indicate that they are not pioneers of free speech, but are only interested in driving their own agenda.” Twitter declined to comment further, but pointed to its original statement that Prasad’s account had been temporarily suspended for copyright infringement.
According to local reports, Twitter was recently cited by the police in Uttar Pradesh for hosting a video inciting communal discord with journalists and opposition party leaders. Delhi Police also said that they were investigating another complaint against Twitter India chief Manish Maheshwari related to a video that showed majority Hindus attacking a minority Muslim man. The company has since removed the offending clip, offering no comment beyond its statement about complying with local laws. The Uttar Pradesh government has petitioned the Supreme Court of India to set aside the lower court’s protection from the arrest of Maheshwari.
Without pressure on India to take back its online powers – which the Washington Post’s editorial board called for this month – companies like Twitter will have to carefully weigh their …
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-30/big-tech-is-gearing-up-for-a-massive-fight-with-modi-s-india
