I have been following the battle of social media giants with the new IT laws and rules that the government has brought in to reign big tech . As an artist and a writer my position is clear freedom of speech and expression is absolute and 100% there is no other way . The government is right now fleeing its muscles and trying to show the world that it is the Big Boss . The narrative that wants to project is not what comes out on social media , since the platform is for the common man they vent  out their anger vehemently on Twitter , Facebook and WhatsApp . The government has been slammed on social media for the past several months and thus they want to reign in big tech .

I have to state that Big Tech is already regulated Facebook has tens of thousands of fact checkers and content evaluators , who remove content t according to pre set guidelines which can be downloaded from the social media pages. These guidelines and policies are exhaustive and very detailed and the content checkers are trained how to judge content and follow these guidelines that’s their job . Now the government is not happy with social media’s evaluation of content and feel they have the right to judge what content should be removed and what shouldn’t . That’s where the issue is the government wants to regulate big tech to push their agenda and their narrative . The government is not interested in protecting free speech they are only interested in hearing what they want to hear . WhatsApp and Twitter have taken the government to court . In some countries they have won court battles , but if the sate of India wants to get you they are going to get you . I believe that after the initial skirmished with the law the social media giants will relent and bend . But as of now heated debate will rage on as to what is the right way to do things .People will quote the law and sections of the law while lawyers from either side make money the game and the show ill go on with some compromise in the middle.

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The battle between social media giants and the government is now being watched by the international press as well . After WhatsApp sued  the government  stating that it cannot comply with new government rules as it infringes  on user security and privacy and the demand for originator of content will requires them to make technical changes to their system worldwide which will demolish end to end encryption of user messages allowing the government to peek into conversations of the user .

Twitter said that it fears for the security of its employees and is fearful of intimidation by government agencies and the police as notices where served to twitter India head in Delhi . One of the rules that had come into force since yesterday is that grievance redressal officers need to be appointed who can be asked to remove an objection posts by the government within thirty six hours . The officer will then have to bare any criminal liability for content posted by third  party on their platforms . This is a clear case of government bullying the social media where the people at large have been panning and lambasting the government for mis handling of COVID and the farmers protests against the new farm laws .

This vehement criticism has lead to the BJP loosing the elections in some of the key state elections especially in West Bengal . The COVID second wave has made people direct their anger on the ruling BJP as thousands have lost their lives this has lead to their defeat in the UP municipal elections also . The events of the last six moths has so rattled the ruling party that now they want to shoot the messenger which in this case is the Platform itself .

The new rules will require both technical changes in the platform and organizational changes as some one with in the company would be held liable . India is a big market for big tech and some platforms have asked for more time to understand the guidelines since they do not want to loose a big market in India . But if the government pushes hard some platforms will be forces to exit the country as the financial liability will not be enough for them to sustain profitability . Before the rules came into effect the social media platforms where given immunity against any libel for third party content posted on their site . Now with the heavy criticism the BJP has received they want to arm twist the platforms by taking away that immunity .

Some one will be going to jail and it might be that some platforms will pull out as India will become unviable for them to operate in . Seeing this the government is Pushing KOO as the new desi twitter and most politicians and government officials are on KOO as well . Which means government fro sure wants to push twitter out of the country as notices where served to them first . Twitter is the politicians favourite platform but now they want to ring it in and push KOO . This is not about the users right to privacy and free speech  issue it is an issue of a sulking government who has been stung by peoples criticism trying to shoot very platforms that carry the voice of the common man who feels aggrieved .

Lets wait and watch what unfold next follow this story on www.tikkustravelthon.in

The war has begun whatsApp has taken the government to high court over the new rules and policy that will govern social media , OTT and other streaming platforms . WhatsApp says that it has end to end inscription of its messages to safeguard user privacy and it cannot give government information about who was posting what since that infringes on their policy to safeguard the user . If it gives government and investigative agencies like the police then they will have to decrypt all messages on their platform which is not feasible .

Today Google CEO Sundar Pichai said they will comply with the rues and are looking for ways to work with governments around the world to tackle pricey issues and also the need to put a complaints redressal officer based out of India . The government has stated all posts that they ask to be removed should be removed with in 36 hours which also includes posts that show nudity , hate speech , child abuse or anti national activity . Google’s tone seems that they are ready to toe the line . But in WhatsApp’s case they have a technical hitch and issue as all the messages on their platforms are encrypted to protect privacy .

Big Tech seems to be saying that the rules are made to  bully them and through the new rules propagated by the IT Ministry  that are a means for the government for increasing it’s surveillance on there people and a way to silence the anti government narrative which is rampant on social media . They state that there where no complaints to remove posts or content by the government in 2014. But the complaints in the year 2021 have gone up to 2500 . The government was now curbing the freedom of speech of the people and that is an accusation that Twitter has levelled . In the garb of national security and protecting the users the government was asking social media sites to do mass surveillance on its people .

The battle is on and the government has threatened  to revoke the protection the platforms get against any liability from third party postings on their platform . The request for having a compliance officer , a grievances redressal  officer and a nodal officer has also been complied with as yet , as platforms have asked for more time to in gage with the government . It seems the government is also pushing KOO a local microblogging site that has agreed to adhere to all government rules from the onset . KOO has been positioned as a notional alternative to twitter .

The Battle between social media giants hots up as the deadline for following new government guidelines ends today . Yesterday notices where served to the offices of twitter in Delhi and Gurgaon  . The tussle pertains to the new guidelines issued by the  Modi government , ashes are a set of rules the government wants to use to reign in big tech in India . Which includes Facebook , Instagram , WhatsApp , YouTube and Instagram , let’s look at the business and  the number of users each of these social media giants have in India .

Facebook has 2.80 billion active users world wide with 1.84 billion users who sue their service everyday . In India Facebook has 320 million active users that’s 10% of its global user base therefor India is a big market for Facebook .Its revenue world-wide is 86 billion dollars .Its revenue year end 2020 was up 43% from last year and stood at 1277 crores , its net profit jumped by 107% to 137 crores . Facebook also owns WhatsApp and Instagram worldwide and in India . Twitters revenue grew by 74% in India year ending 2020 with an annual revenue of 75 billion worldwide China and India are big markets with high profitability for Twitter .It has a worldwide user base of 353 million worldwide .

WhatsApp has 390.1 active users in India it has a world-wide revenue of 5 billion dollars . Instagram which was bought by Facebook and also integrated on its platform has 120 million active users in India that is second only to the United Sates . Thus it is clear b y the numbers that India is a very viable and profitable market for these tech gains and non of them would like to lose their dominance in India . Facebook and Twitter both have asked for more time form the IT Industry and government policy makers who are serious now about implementing the new laws and guidelines . The tech giants have said they need to study the guidelines intently and have discussion form their bosses in the US .

The key contention is the law that they will have to share first sender information to the police or law enforcement agencies so that the originator of the post can be tracked .This WhatsApp says is very difficult to do as their messaging service is end to end encrypted to protect user privacy . They cannot give data share information with the police on a case to car basis . To comply to this law they will have to open encryption for all users which is against their privacy policy .The government has threatened if the new guidelines are not adhered to when the deadline is over Social media companies will lose the immunity they enjoy as an intermediary  and would be held liable for all content posted on there site . Which means they can be taken to court by anyone in a liable case and they will have to face criminal proceedings under the current India Penal system and the IT ACT section 69A .

The government has again stated that there has to be a complaints reprisal officer living in India with his name and contact details clearly mentioned off the site who will handle complaints and redressal . The Social media against have not adhered to this rule as well . So the gloves are off as the police raided Twitters office to hand the management their legal notice . The government is using strong arm tactic and the giants are fighting back seeing the government questioning the rules and the difficulty in implementing them . At www.tikkustravelthon.in we will be tracking this big fight for the next few days as this could inherently change the social media landscape and game in the coming future . OTT platform have been asked to rain in nudity , child abuse and other harmful content as will and have been bough under the ambit of the new guideline as well along with other streaming platforms .So wait and watch how this battle unfolds in days to come follow it on www.tikustravelthon.in

It seems the war between Facebook , Twitter and other social media platforms is not yet over but has moved into the next phase . The IT ministry had come up with a set of guidelines to regulate toxic posts on social media platforms . Which includes hate speech’s against a community , posts that incite violence and communal disharmony and are angst the security of the state or meant to de stabilize the government . It and also asked the platforms to employ a grievance rehearsal officer who should be a resident of the country to deal with toxic and socially harmful posts . The guidelines asked for better screening of the posts and a monthly report of grievance management . Many posts during the farmer protests including dozens of  hashtag’s were removed during the farmer protests , but after a month twitter re opened closed accounts siting freedom of speech issues  , that seemed to have irked the government further .

Finally today police was sent to the Delhi office of Twitter and a legal notice was served to them for non compliance of the said guidelines . The government can use the strong arm of the law and the provisions provided under the IT act section 69A and take criminal action against teh social media sites . Under this their management can be sent to jail for upto seven years for non compliance of guidelines .

The action has political undertones as well as there was a matter of BJP spokesman Sambit patra’s toolkit on twitter that provoked this strong response form the IT ministry which handed out the notice to the police .Their have been anti BJP toolkits discrediting the party’s handling of COVID that was being floated around as well . Twitter has come in the firing line as BJP and Congress battle each other on social media .