There cannot be two sovereigns in a democratic society. Similarly, In India, the only sovereign is its citizens & the government chosen by them is provided with the full authority to make decisions for the best of its citizens. But, due to Globalization & digital limitless reach, another ‘organization’ called social media has started to challenge the authority of a nation-state. They are dictating the state policies, arbitrarily manipulating the elections & are challenging the sovereign authority with the access to private data collected through its platforms.
Tuning with the law of the land
WhatsApp on Monday announced that in compliance with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, the company banned around 18 lakh ‘bad accounts’ in India in the month of March.
The messaging giant said, “Following IT Rules 2021, we have published our report for the month of March 2022. This use-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and corresponding action by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform.”
Read More: With a new IT minister just sworn in, WhatsApp decides not to go ahead with its new privacy policy
Law without swords is nothing but worse
The action taken by social media companies on bad WhatsApp accounts aligns with the new IT rules. It mandates these companies to:
- Identify the ‘first originator’ of content that authorities consider anti-national
- Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with complaints
- Within 24 hours, the officer will acknowledge the complaint & will resolve it within fifteen days from its receipt
Moreover, IT Rules 2021 has taken a strong stand on the ‘safe harbour’ provisions of Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 79 of the IT act provides a protective cover to social media intermediaries by giving them immunity from legal prosecution for any offensive content posted on their platforms.
But IT Rules provide that in case, due diligence is not followed by these social media intermediaries, the immunity provided from any legal action will be lifted from the intermediaries.
Read More: ‘Change your ways or face consequences,’ Modi govt gives 7 days to WhatsApp to respond to its notice
The fear of lifting legal immunity, due to the violation of IT Rules 2021 from these social media companies has somewhat limited the manipulation & arbitrary regulations of accounts done by these companies. These social media giants who wanted to be the ‘Government of the World’ are now being given lessons about democracy. Furthermore, the dancing to the tunes of government’s regulations gives an idea that law without swords is nothing but worse & to regulate these uncontrolled & unaccountable companies, the might of the law should be used frequently.