India Is Trying Ways to Make Social Media Accountable: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Calling social media a “very powerful medium,” Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday stated that the right way to make it accountable is a “very valid question” and that an ecosystem is being created throughout the globe and in India for a similar.

Self-regulation is a primary step within the route of constructing social media accountable, adopted by business regulation, after which authorities laws, stated the Union Minister of Railways, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology.

“Social media is a very powerful medium. Social media has a big influence on our lives. How to make it accountable has become a very valid question across the globe. All across the globe, countries and societies are moving in the direction of making social media accountable,” he stated whereas interacting with media individuals on the sideline of a programme.

Queried on methods to make social media accountable, the minister stated step one is self-regulation.

“Any such content that creates a harmful impact on society should be removed. Next comes industry regulation, and thereafter the government regulation,” he added.

“Everywhere across the globe and even in our country, an ecosystem, a thought process, is being created to make social media accountable,” Vaishnaw stated after interacting with the startups and college students at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII).

He additionally highlighted the necessity for a “fair system” the place the content material creator will get his dues when the social media platforms like Facebook reap advantages by sharing it.

An individual who works arduous to create content material also needs to get the profit and part of the income if social media like Facebook advantages, he stated. “Such a thinking is also gaining hold,” the minister added.

“So, how to create a fair system, because this (social media) is very big progress. How everybody becomes a part of this progress, and how it becomes accountable — works are being done apace on these issues across the globe,” he stated.