Indian social media users may lose their privacy soon!

social media users may lose their privacy

Crime on social media is growing day by day. There are many people who publish illegal posts such as fake news, child porn, sexist, terrorism and racism contents on social media sites like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. And what you think these spammy contents people post with their real account id. No, all these happen behind the anonymity on social media which is becoming a serious issue. Now it’s time to break this privacy which is being misused by people. To tackle this problem, Government of India has implemented new rules and regulations for social media sites.

Do you want to know what these new rules are and how they will help stop the spammy contents to be published on sites? Social media is a part of your life and what’s happening on it you must know. Well, to know more read this article till end.

Indian Government to introduce new rules for social media users

What is being posted on social media is now becoming a serious concern for Government around the world. Social media companies will be accountable for what circulates on their platform. Let me tell you guys, Indian Government has set out new rules for social media platforms that will be compelled to reveal the identities of users under this rule. Though this not a new rule, the rule was already proposed back in December, 2018 but companies such as the Internet and Mobile Association of India, a trade group that counts Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google responded to as “would be a violation of the right to privacy recognized by the Supreme Court.”

But now this rule is again introduced by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology without any major changes.

400 million social media users in India are set to lose their anonymity

Yes folks, you read it right. India has 1.3 billion people among them 500 million are internet users and 400 million people have their accounts on social media. That’s why this new rule might affect approximately 40 crore Indians who have accounts on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter as per the report published by Bloomberg.  Government of India had issued a draft, in which it asked platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google’s YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, to help the government and trace the origin of a post within 72 hours of request. Furthermore, companies have to safeguard their records at least for 180 days for investigation by appointing grievance officer for users and a government liaison.

Do you think these companies will easily abide by the rules of Government? Answer to this question you will get in the next section given below.

Companies are refusing to follow this rule

Well, exceptions are always there. Here the exception is our favourite messaging app, yes you’re going right, and it’s WhatsApp. Folks, WhatsApp has refused to follow the new rules of Government and said it will now reveal the origin of the rumours. The company said, “We will not compromise on security because that would make people less safe,” its global user base had reached over 2 billion, added further.

Has WhatsApp given any alternative solution to this issue? Yes guys, WhatsApp offered to fund research into preventing the fake news or rumours and ready to organize the public education campaign in the country, its biggest global market.

Here is not the end guys because not only WhatsApp but also major tech companies and civil rights group say the new rules are an open invitation to abuse and censorship, as well as burdensome requirement on new and growing companies.

Which companies don’t fall under this rule?

Indian Government has strictly said that these new rules must be followed by all the social media companies and messaging apps to maintain the decorum of social media. But the companies that don’t fall under this rule are Mozilla, Wikipedia, Browsers, Operating systems, software development platforms, and online repository of knowledge.

The bottom line

In this final section of the blog I just want to say that whatever decision government has taken to tackle social media issues is good. We all know that many people misuse social media to spread rumors, fake news, child porn, and much more. And this new rule will surely reduce the illegal work happens on social media as now people will be traced even if they’re behind the anonymity.

Well, this is what I feel. What you think about this decision let us know in the comment box. Get in touch with us for more informative articles.