Government will ensure that consumers always have their platforms accountable to them in the digital space, and the rights of Indian consumers to have safe Internet will not be allow to be compromise or dilute, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.
The Minister of State for Electronics and IT, who is spearheading an extensive and in-depth nationwide consultation on the new Digital India Bill that will replace two decades old the Information Technology Act noted that for years, the big tech platforms masqueraded as innovation and misuse market dominance necessitating overhaul of regulatory and legal frameworks.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar Said :
He said “change” is normal in the tech and digital world.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said :
For many years now, the big tech, be it search engines or social media platforms have, in a sense, avoide being regulate by governments all around the world “because they masqueraded as innovation“.
Algorithmic biases and accountability are among the challenges being thrown up in digital space.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said :
Given that 120 crore Indians, old and young, women and men, are all going to use the Internet in their lives for pensions, various benefits, education and skilling, the Internet has to be safe and trust, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said :
He said the issue of whether social media platforms should have safe harbour provisions at all is a “legitimate question” to ask and “a conversation worth having“.
These issues on why users are not being fully protect in such cases, and why platforms should have that immunity “is a conversation worth having“.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said :
In cases where a user aggrieve by the content of a platform wants to go after the platform, the matter should be settle by the laws of the land and the judicial system and not the government.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said :
The questioning of the safe harbour provisions has certainly created a ruffle among the platforms for now.