Edits | June 17, 2021

With the pulling up of various social media bodies which are operated out of America, the BJP government has set new rules in motion. It should be looked at both ways, as written earlier in the edits column. As far as social media is concerned it will be difficult for the government to let go of it since a lot of the government, its politicians and functionaries depend upon the American system for any communication. The technical obsolescence of India of the coolie culture in the IT industry, has not let India develop any major application, like the Chinese, that can replace the present American social media networks. As written earlier in my column, India will have to pay a price for it. And it is not just in taxes but also in the unyielding power that these media networks bring with them. Investment in media by foreign companies is restricted by the Parliament. Cross-border media cannot be restricted in this age of communication. Needless to say the Indian government, and the present BJP regime is paying the price for it. Even if they are taxed, their voices cannot be suppressed. By taking away the intermediaries status, does not have any effect on the functioning of the app or its audience. The only thing that will be affected is the bill for a large law firm. It appears that the BJP government has run out of clues on how to buy into this newly developed social media power, which at one time was their chosen weapon against the spokesmanship of congress and coming back into power. The way things stand at the moment, is that the government is battling technology, of end to end encryption for WhatsApp, and the twitterati, who cannot leave their fingers off the Twitter app, guided by the laws that were formulated by the same regime hundreds years back- that is the British.

In the days to come, the non-complying social media networks will agree to the government’s proposition and start backing the government again. The BJP has an uphill battle in UP and the other eight states, which go to polls. Even Gujarat is going to be a battle and it appears that social media is not helping them this time. In order to get their own rhetoric communicated properly, through this media the government is simply calling its power for the media networks to pay heed and march as per instructions.

CA Divesh Nath
Editor
Woman’s Era
LinkedIn: Divesh Nath