- Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India belongs to a right-wing political organisation. Sharing a chummy relationship with Trump (for whom he even personally campaigned on American soil in the last election), the American social media networks (FaceBook, WhatsApp and Twitter) during the Trump rule favoured Modi a lot. They helped him by interfering in indian elections (by suppressing opposition social media campaigns and advertisements on the network) and helped him spread his right-wing, often hate-filled message without repercussions.
Source:
(1) Facebook Executive Supported India’s Modi, Disparaged Opposition in Internal Messages - https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-executive-supported-in...
- After Trump lost the recent presidential election, the American social networks, like any other mainstream media, now largely kow-tow to the Biden administration and Modi has lost much of his political leverage over them. This has resulted in them being forced to be more politically "neutral" and give space to the opposition voice in India on these networks.
Source:
(1) Facebook’s Top Public Policy Executive in India Steps Down - https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-s-top-public-policy-ex... ,
(2) Government asks Twitter to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag fom tweets related to ‘Congress toolkit’ - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/government-asks-twitt...
- The Modi government in return has tried to counter this with a slew of regulations / legislation against the social media networks to regain political leverage and bully them. And like Trump supporters did, they have also attempted to migrate to another social media platform under their control.
Source:
(1) Social media companies will have to track 'first originator' of information under certain circumstances, while digital media and OTT platforms will have to resolve grievances pertaining to a 'Code of Ethics - https://thewire.in/government/modi-govt-announces-new-rules-... ,
(2) Govt announces new social media rules to curb its misuse - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-announces-new-so... ,
(3) As Twitter seeks talks, Ministers move to Indian-made app Koo - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/amid-row-with-twitter...
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What ever be your indian political ideology, the dilemma should be clear for any indian - why should India rely on the presence of a liberal government in the USA for American social media networks to be politically neutral and liberal in India?
National Herald India is a newspaper published by India's oldest political party, the Indian National Congress, that led India's freedom movement, and there is an interesting opinion piece published on it: "India now a digital colony: Is Facebook the new East India Company?" - https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/india-now-a-digi... ... - I mention this because let's not be under the illusion that only a right-wing government wants to control the internet. There are genuine and valid reasons in a democracy to have the internet regulated in any democratic country as long as liberal and democratic values prevail. (Ofcourse, it is a slippery slope ...).