Lack of Privacy: Most people believe the age of privacy is now over and are, apparently, unconcerned about the data that is captured about them.
Radicalistaion of the Youth
Social media is used by terrorist organisations as a tool for ideological radicalisation, recruitment, communication and training. In addition, terrorist groups take advantage of it to communicate with cybercrime organisations and to coordinate along with them fundraising activities (from illicit activities) carried out in part (drug smuggling, gunrunning) or completely (e.g. phishing) on the Internet.
Echo Chambers, Polarisation and Hyper-partisanship
In many ways, the design of certain social media platforms mirrors the growing volume of partisan media in traditional channels. As they increasingly become a primary distribution channel, social media platforms create bubbles of one-sided information and opinions, perpetuating biased views and diminishing opportunities for healthy discourse.
Spread of False or Misleading Information
Viral disinformation or misinformation, commonly dubbed “fake news”, runs rampant across social media channels, disseminated by both state and private actors. These false and distorted pieces of information can intensify divisiveness and make it difficult for people to trust both what they read as well as the people and institutions they are reading about.
Conflation of Popularity with Legitimacy
The idea that likes or retweets can be used to measure validity or mass support for a person, message or organisation creates a distorted system of evaluating information and provides a false pulse on the popularity of certain views. This is compounded by how challenging it is to distinguish legitimately expressed opinions from those generated by trolls and bots.
Political Manipulation
Such trolls and bots, disguised as ordinary citizens, have become a weapon of choice for governments and political leaders to shape online conversations. Governments in Turkey, China, Israel, Russia and the United Kingdom are known to have deployed thousands of hired social media operatives who run multiple accounts to shift or control public opinion.
Manipulation, Micro-targeting and Behaviour Change
Advertisers and their sophisticated targeting mechanisms drive the attention economy. Not all of these messages look like ads or are visible to anyone outside the target population, as was the case with Facebook’s recent admissions surrounding Russian-sponsored ads purchased during the US election. This model further widens the gap between publishers and journalists and erodes the revenue and sustainability of traditional news organisations charged with holding the powerful accountable.
Intolerance, Exclusion and Hate Speech
Various policies and features of these platforms can amplify hate speech, terrorist appeals, and racial and sexual harassment. These environments can deter those targeted by hate speech from engaging in the conversation.
New Social Media Policy
The government is finalising a policy which is aimed at keeping a hawk’s eye vigil on the social media to check if it is being misused to conspire against India and spread anti-national propaganda.
Social Media Law in India
