India will ensure internet isn't dominated by big corporates: Chandrasekhar

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was responding to a question from Facebook India head Ajit Mohan on where the private sector fits into the govt's digitalisation push

The Indian government will be ‘very careful’ about ensuring that the Internet remains free and open in terms of competitive pressures, and is not dominated by big corporations, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at Meta’s (formerly Facebook) Fuel for India 2021 event on Wednesday.

“Over time, we have realised that the internet, like any other space, also has its challenges — that the bad creeps in along with the good. What we want is not just to connect a billion Indians, but that the internet should continue to be open,” Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology, said.

Chandrasekhar was responding to a question from Facebook India head Ajit Mohan on where technology companies in the private sector fit into the government’s vision of digitalising governance and services in the country. “We will be full tilt in partnerships with the private sector, companies such as yourself, other foreign companies and entrepreneurs. We will partner to expand the good, like delivering access, equity and opportunity to every Indian. We also want to ensure that intermediaries or platforms such as Facebook develop a culture of mutual respect and accountability with the users,” said Chandrasekhar.

Big tech firms such as Facebook and Google have come under the radar of India’s competition watchdog, much like in Europe and the US, in the past couple of years. 

For instance, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) this year sought to investigate whether a new privacy policy of Facebook-owned WhatsApp would lead to excessive data collection and “stalking” of consumers for targeted advertising. Its intent is probably to bring in more users, and is therefore, an alleged abuse of dominant position. 

Since 2019, there has been an ongoing probe by the CCI to determine if Google was abusing its dominant position to force app makers to exclusively use its billing system for in-app purchases. Also, if the search giant was bundling its payments app with Android smartphones sold in India.

Chandrasekhar also said while the government has a role in policymaking as well as strategic research and technology development, it sees entrepreneurship as a big driver in expansion of the digital economy.

“In India, as in most other technology-intensive economies, it is really the entrepreneur, who will drive the next stage of it, accelerate growth and expand the economy. What we are seeing in India is exactly that,” the Union minister said.

The confidence and energy visible in the start-up ecosystem today validates that entrepreneurship is the fuel for economic growth, prosperity and opportunity. He added, “Entrepreneurship will be the big energy, sort of a driver, in how we expand the digital economy where the ambition of the Prime Minister is that it will reach a trillion dollars very soon.

“The common theme is that it is a combination of a government working in partnership with entrepreneurial energies, innovation, and creativity that will be the formula for winning the digital economy for India,” he said.