May 14, 2019:
Fake news is an online epidemic & the way forward is three-pronged- enact Law, create awareness & make intermediaries responsible.
If India were to move in the same direction as Singapore and enact a law, it should do so with caution to ensure that the intent of the law isn’t to stifle freedom of speech but to safeguard citizens from the dangers of fake news and false information.
In what’s being criticised as a controversial & ambiguous law, Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation (Pofma) Law criminalising fake news and allowing the authorities to remove objectionable online content was passed recently.
It went so far as to allow policing of private conversations to ensure that misinformation is not transmitted.
Despite a backlash from opposition parties, human rights groups & tech companies due to its vagueness & anti-privacy stance, the law, or rather the intent of a law of this kind has merit.
India’s battle against fake news has got fiercer with time, with the government pressuring tech companies for more content regulation, & tech companies attempting to clean up one mess after another.
This is why we saw WhatsApp limit forwarded messages to five, & Facebook struggle to build an unbiased Artificial Intelligence system to detect & block fake news (it still hasn’t succeeded fully).
But to place the complete onus on for-profit companies (here, intermediaries largely guarded by law) to regulate content is irresponsible.
With over 468 million smartphone users in India (a big broadcasting tool), WhatsApp & even regional language media platforms have been used to target marginalised groups, causing brutal lynching & murders on mere “suspicion” of illegal activity.
So, if India were to move in the same direction as Singapore & enact a law, it should do so with caution to ensure that the intent of the law isn’t to stifle freedom of speech but to safeguard citizens from the dangers of fake news & false information. It would require finding a fine balance to ensure authenticity without affecting free speech. India’s approach must be more nuanced.
This includes defining fake news, ensuring a difference between fact and opinion (including only the former under the ambit), meeting privacy concerns under Article 21 of the Constitution, safeguarding the freedom of press and following due process of the law every time.
India must not follow in the path of Singapore or even Russia, whose anti-fake news laws allow too much power to governments to stifle content unfavourable to them & their agenda. However, one positive aspect of Pofma which is beneficial for India is the ban on fake accounts & bots.
Fake news is an online epidemic, & the way forward is three-pronged:
One, rethinking the intermediary liability rules to ensure a greater degree of social responsibility & transparency from tech companies;
Two, passing a law that strictly defines fake news, and
Three, ensuring tech literacy through awareness drives, to inculcate the habit of verifying all content received.
We’ve witnessed the Internet build what’s called a global village, changing the way we communicate with one another. Both, information & misinformation are at our fingertips.
This only means that it is almost as easy to spread fake news as it is to verify it.
Source HT link
