Need to regulate Big techs in India

Need to regulate Big techs in India

The Indian government is planning to announce important regulations on big techs Internet-related technology companies. It has proven that it can act against such firms, and advocates want new regulations. The big technology firms are under increased pressure in India because of a fake-news law and worries about breaches of user data.

Visions of internet technology

The Internet has reached a very critical juncture, which will determine its future in shaping the world. The two models of internet policies have been presented above which are-

• Libertarianism: Under this, liberal internet policies were followed by countries such as the USA. This model was successful in the past but now under pressure due to internal conflicts.
• Authoritarianism: Under this, Countries will enforce strict authoritative Internet policies. For example, China.

The debate of libertarianism and authoritarianism is more than just a theoretical one. It has become critical in the recent past. Most countries have either made decisions or are deliberating on their internet policies. While these decisions will only be able to affect their respective countries, they will impact the whole world.

Need for regulating the big-techs

It is a well known fact that there are several issues with internet platforms. These issues get intensified after big-techs starts creating and generating their own contents. The issues are mentioned below.

It is obvious that the domination of big-techs over the internet takes place owing to the freedom and flexibility they had enjoyed earlier. There was no legal restriction on their activities. And, because of this, they grew big at an alarming speed.

Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon control over much of the media that people across the world are exposed to on a daily basis. The big-techs have rapidly expanded, driven by innovative new technologies. Their global dominance means their reach is unmatched in human history.

The fight against big-tech has started in full. They have acquired political and economic power without proper regulation. The founder of one of the biggest technology companies, Google, believes that the government should regulate these companies to maintain a level playing field when it comes to the spread of information.

The international community is getting seriously concerned about a few huge companies that dominate and control the IT industries of many countries. Companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Apple act as they are sovereign powers and regulate speech in the territory they assert, establishing standards of censorship.

Way Forward

Internet technology is evolving and it’s obvious that this will have profound effects on the world. We can say that most of the activities of the current world are influenced by internet technology. We are dealing with an era where people rely on various applications of internet technology rather than living in isolation without them, or even when they are. There is a global village that we can say has no boundaries or limitations. Information can be shared globally and people with different nationalities can interact in relation to this information. This would probably require better internet policies and models as there could be more complications in the near future of how information should be controlled.