Regulate big tech but not at the expense of user rights: Mishi Choudhary

The heavy-handed ways in which the government has been behaving in shaping the narrative and curbing dissent make even genuine attempts at regulating big tech suspicious, says Choudhary

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on February 25 notified new rules under the Information Technology Act to regulate social media firms. Some of the provisions in these rules have been contentious, such as appointing three Indian residents to be liable and responsible for compliance, and having a grievance officer. The deadline to comply with these rules was May 25, which, companies say, is a very short time frame for them. In the absence of clarity or extension from the government, WhatsApp went to court against breaking end-to-end encryption, while an ongoing tussle between Twitter and the government heated