Is Google facing less scrutiny in India than Facebook?

The Indian subsidiaries of two of the largest digital ad behemoths, Google and Meta Platforms, have reported their results for the last fiscal. Meta’s Indian unit Facebook India Online Services saw its gross advertising revenue grow 41% to Rs 9,321 crore as the pandemic boosted the growth for digital ad platforms. Digital marketing has become a centrepiece in the growth strategy of corporations.

In comparison, Google India’s gross advertising revenue soared 21% to almost Rs 13,900 crore, cementing its dominance. Together, the two platforms control more than 70% of India’s digital advertising market.

One can agree that Google has become increasingly critical to our lives, more than Facebook. 98% of Indian smartphones are powered by Android and Google’s search engine needs no introduction. Companies rely heavily on its non-advertising services such as the Google Workspace that provides a host of collaboration and productivity tools as well as its cloud services. While Google’s tools are seen as critical internet infrastructure, Facebook mostly provides a platform to air our views.

While Facebook has been a favourite whipping boy, Google remained under the radar despite being a platform for several objectionable content including the dark web and objectionable content.

Facebook invited a lot of political scrutiny over its activities. More recently, when a whistleblower alleged that Facebook struggled to police hate content in India, the Parliamentary Panel on Communications and IT headed by MP Shashi Tharoor questioned company officials over it.

Google too has a larger Indian workforce than Facebook. This begs the question if Google is being seen as so systemically important that it is flying under the radar of politicians despite its significant presence in content, mainly through YouTube.

Last year, an article by the Wall Street Journal triggered a political storm and raised questions about Facebook’s content regulation practices in India. The paper reported that the social network company favoured one political party.

But the same yardstick has not been applied to YouTube which is by far the largest streaming platform in India. The main Facebook app has 350 million users in India which is less than YouTube’s 450 million.

Starting January, YouTube is updating its Terms of Service which now requires publishers of news and current affairs content to furnish the details of their accounts to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The requirement is part of new intermediary guidelines notified in February this year.

A major action that Google has faced is a two-year investigation by the Competition Commission of India over its alleged abuse of dominance in the Android smartphone market. The probe reportedly found that Google used its financial muscle to hurt its competitors. CCI’s report said Google reduced device manufacturers’ ability to opt for alternate versions of its mobile operating system and force them to pre-install Google apps.

Even amid such serious allegations, Google has not faced the wrath of our politicians. Perhaps, it is time for our elected officials to give closer scrutiny to the internet giant. 

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