UPSC Issue at a Glance | Social Media: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

What is the issue?

Recently, the Australian authorities announced plans to present authorities aimed astatine keeping children nether the property of 16 disconnected societal media platforms similar Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated past week that a acceptable of “world-leading” measures volition soon beryllium presented successful Parliament.

Why is this contented relevant?

Social media has go a regular wont successful our lives, particularly among young people. Individuals from assorted property groups usage societal media platforms for connection and networking, indicating a increasing dependency connected these platforms. Thus, knowing astir the societal media and its interaction becomes significant. 

Additionally, consciousness successful the tract of accusation exertion is mentioned successful the UPSC CSE syllabus, and antecedently UPSC has asked questions connected this topic. This taxable is besides applicable for effort penning and existent affairs, making it important for candidates preparing for their property tests.

UPSC Syllabus: 

Preliminary Examination: Current events of nationalist and planetary importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-I, III: Effects of globalisation connected Indian society, Awareness successful the fields of IT.

Question 1:  Why Australia is readying to prohibition societal media for teenagers?

The Australian government has announced plans to present authorities that would forestall children nether the property of 16 from utilizing societal media platforms. Although the draught measure has not yet been released, this announcement has sparked debates astir the effectiveness and necessity of specified a ban, arsenic good arsenic the broader interaction of societal media connected adolescents.

Studies accidental problematic societal media usage — inability to power usage, experiencing withdrawal and neglecting different activities to usage societal media — has been connected the rise. It has been associated with little intelligence well-being, higher levels of substance maltreatment and little sleep.

Challenge of property verification

One of the biggest challenges successful implementing these bans is property verification. While platforms similar Instagram presently person property limits, they lone inquire users for their day of commencement without requiring immoderate verification. As a result, galore children supply mendacious accusation to summation entree to these platforms.

The South Australian study highlighted property verification methods utilized by platforms, specified arsenic authorities IDs, recognition cards, and facial designation to place underage users. However, these practices rise superior privateness concerns owed to the sharing of minors’ information with companies.

Question 2: Why societal media is simply a double-edged sword?

In today’s world, societal media has emerged arsenic a almighty force, connecting radical connected local, national, and planetary levels similar ne'er earlier owed to erstwhile technological advancements. However, it is often referred to arsenic a double-edged sword owed to the antagonistic interaction it has connected aggregate fronts. In this discourse let’s recognize the advantages and disadvantages of societal media. 

According to Global Statistics, Indians walk an mean of 2.36 hours connected societal media daily. (File photo)

Advantages of Social Media

Social media is reducing societal barriers. It connects radical connected the spot of quality values, not identities.- Prime Minister Narendra Modi

1. Advanced Source of Communication: Social networking sites alteration individuals and organizations to stock and speech accusation astatine a velocity unmatched by accepted promotional oregon acquisition methods. For companies and organizations, utilizing societal networking platforms has go indispensable for communicating not lone with the wide nationalist but besides with nonrecreational communities.

2. Helping successful Good Governance:  Social media has transformed the mode accusation is shared among people. As a result, it plays a important relation successful promoting bully governance by encouraging national information successful decision-making.

Citizens tin utilize societal media to study issues and pass with the government, thereby holding it accountable. In turn, governments tin usage societal media to prosecute straight with citizens, businesses, and experts to stitchery feedback connected work delivery, make programs, and formulate policies.

3. Medium for facilitating empowerment: One of the advantages of societal media is that it has emerged arsenic a almighty instrumentality for empowerment. It provides a level for voices that person historically been marginalized, allowing susceptible sections of nine to advocator for their rights, stock their stories, and physique supportive communities. This is peculiarly evident successful the mode societal media has boosted feminist movements specified arsenic #MeToo and #TimesUp.

4. Social media and Democarcy: Social media has reduced the spread betwixt citizens and their elected authorities and politicians, making ideology much participative.

Abhik Choudhury writes- “For the archetypal clip successful history, we person an instrumentality that tin question the seemingly invincible governments, marque them accountable and bring sustained alteration driven by radical beyond 1 ballot successful years.”

Disadvantages of Social Media 

Social media has go an indispensable instrumentality for staying connected. However, it besides has immoderate drawbacks, including the dispersed of misinformation and its relation with higher levels of anxiousness and depression. Here are immoderate antagonistic impacts of societal media.

1. Issue of Misinformation: Social media’s wide scope presents a important accidental for enhancing entree to information, fostering assemblage engagement, and bridging the spread betwixt mean citizens and decision-makers. However, the contented of the dispersed of misinformation has emerged arsenic the biggest disadvantage of societal media.

Ruchi Gupta writes- “Social media platforms person adopted plan choices that person led to a proliferation and mainstreaming of misinformation portion allowing themselves to beryllium weaponised by almighty vested interests for governmental and commercialized benefit.

The consequent escaped travel of disinformation, hatred and targeted intimidation has led to real-world harm and degradation of ideology successful India: Mainstreamed anti-minority hate, polarised communities and sowed disorder person made it hard to found a shared instauration of truth.”

2. Social media interaction connected adolescents: The emergence of societal media has exposed galore teenagers worldwide to name-calling, harassment, embarrassment, humiliation, stalking, threats, and adjacent fraud. This has contributed to an summation successful intelligence wellness issues among teenagers and, successful immoderate cases, has led to tragic outcomes.

If a teen is subjected to immoderate signifier of online bullying, it tin permission a lasting antagonistic impact, which tin enactment with the idiosyncratic for years to come, said Dr Vihan Sanyal

Studies person shown that children who walk much than 3 hours a time connected societal media are doubly arsenic apt to acquisition intelligence wellness issues similar slump and anxiousness based connected images of what they don’t person successful their lives.

3.  Issue of Internet Persona: As societal beings, we inherently person a request for societal acceptance, and societal media often becomes a instrumentality for validation. The fig of likes one’s posts oregon images garners becomes a quantitative measurement for many, successful narration to their looks, and intelligence, and adjacent extends to their worthy arsenic a person.

Individuals strive to support an ‘internet persona’ which paints a rosy representation of one’s life, utilizing filters to fell parts considered ‘not bully enough. Body dysmorphia- It is communal among young radical and has accrued implicit the past fewer years. Use of algorithms connected these platforms forces radical to lone ticker akin content. It often leads to consciousness of disappointment among the youth, changes successful behavioural patterns, feeling of inferiority and adjacent cyberbullying, resulting successful sedate intelligence wellness challenges and illnesses.

4. Impact connected intelligence health: Using societal media successful moderation is not needfully bad. In fact, it tin boost serotonin and different feel-good chemicals successful the brain, helping to uplift a person’s mood. However, it becomes problematic erstwhile usage turns into a habit. As frequent societal media usage tin change parts of the encephalon that are related to emotions and learning. This is important arsenic the quality encephalon develops a consciousness of individuality and self-worth betwixt the ages of 10 and 19.

There is besides a correlation between excessive societal media usage and intelligence disorders similar anxiety, depression, slumber disorders, ADHD, paranoia, delusions, suicidal thoughts and self-harm. – Dr Vihan Sanyal, a Psychotherapist.

Thus, It is precise important for users to support a cheque connected the magnitude of clip they walk connected societal media. They request to recognise the signs of societal media addiction and to instrumentality indispensable steps rapidly to guarantee they bash not go addicted to societal media.

Question 3: What is the regulatory model for societal media successful India?

The authorities is bringing laws and is taking different steps to marque societal media platforms much accountable for immoderate slanderous contented posted connected their platforms.- Ashwini Vaishnaw, IT Minister

The authorities has taken assorted initiatives for the effectual regularisation of societal media platforms. Such as,  Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”).

After extended consultations with the nationalist and stakeholders, IT rules has been enacted nether the authorization of conception 87(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, thereby superseding the erstwhile Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.

Under it each societal media platforms are asked to acceptable up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism, which included appointing a nonmigratory grievance officer, main compliance serviceman and a nodal interaction person. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has besides asked these platforms to taxable monthly reports connected complaints received from users and enactment taken. A 3rd request for instant messaging apps is to marque provisions for tracking the archetypal originator of a message.

Failure to comply with immoderate 1 of these requirements would instrumentality distant the indemnity provided to societal media intermediaries nether Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000

Section 79 says immoderate intermediary shall not beryllium held legally oregon different liable for immoderate 3rd enactment information, data, oregon connection nexus made disposable oregon hosted connected its platform. This protection, the Act says, shall beryllium applicable if the said intermediary does not successful immoderate way, initiate the transmission of the connection successful question, prime the receiver of the transmitted connection and does not modify immoderate accusation contained successful the transmission.

Question 4: What measures should beryllium taken for amended regularisation of societal Media?

The powerfulness of a instrumentality is lone arsenic bully arsenic however we usage it. It is important to tackle the ongoing systemic challenges successful regulating societal media use. Following measures tin beryllium taken for the effectual regularisation of societal media successful India:

Law for combating misinformation issue

There is simply a request for a broad transparency instrumentality that mandates applicable disclosures by societal media platforms. Additionally, contented moderation and related functions specified arsenic modular setting, fact-checking, and de-platforming should beryllium incorporated.

Ensuring Accountability for Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms play a important relation successful the accelerated dispersed of disinformation. Their plan choices person contributed to making disinformation wide and often indistinguishable from verified information. Therefore, it is the work of these platforms to instrumentality enactment against the organisation of disinformation and its misuse.

Ruchika Gupta writes- “We urge 3 approaches to the organisation of contented that tin beryllium adopted by platforms:

(i) Constrain organisation to integrated scope (chronological feed);

(ii) instrumentality editorial work for amplified content; or

(iii) amplify lone credible sources (irrespective of ideological affiliation).

The existent attack to misinformation that relies connected fact-checking a tiny subset of contented successful a immense water of unreviewed contented is inadequate for the task and needs to beryllium supplemented by a reappraisal of contented creators itself.”

Prioritize intelligence health

We indispensable besides prioritize intelligence wellness by intimately monitoring the incidence of psychiatric disorders, specified arsenic slump and anxiety, portion identifying some hazard factors and sources of resilience. With respect to teenagers, parents should beryllium precise mindful erstwhile allowing integer entree to their children and sermon steadfast usage with them.

Post Read Questions

Prelims

(1) In India, it is legally mandatory for which of the pursuing to study connected cyber information incidents? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. Service providers

2. Data centres

3. Body corporate

Select the close reply utilizing the codification fixed below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

2. Consider the pursuing statements:

1. Safe harbour clause is prescribed nether Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000.

2. Safe harbour is ineligible immunity that online intermediaries bask against contented posted by users connected their platforms.

Which of the statements fixed supra is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Mains

1. What are societal networking sites and what information implications bash these sites present? (UPSC CSE 2013)

2. Child cuddling is present being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its interaction connected the socialization of children. (UPSC CSE 2023)

3. Social media is triggering ‘Fear of Missing Out’ amongst the youth, precipitating slump and loneliness. (UPSC CSE 2024)