Supreme Court made a strong comment on Facebook

Digital platform not railway platform

Facebook has got a setback from the Supreme Court. The court has refused to stay the summons issued by the panel of Delhi Assembly to the Vice President of Facebook India regarding the Delhi riots. During this, the Supreme Court also made some very harsh comments. The court said that digital platforms are not like railway platforms where the movement of trains is controlled. Today the democratic foundation is being threatened by manipulation through social media.

The Supreme Court said that such an effect is being seen in established independent democracies around the world and they are concerned. Elections and the voting process, which are the foundation of democratic government, are threatened by social media manipulations. The Supreme Court said that the technological age has created digital platforms – these are not like railway platforms where the movement of trains is controlled. These digital platforms can go completely out of control at some point of time, with their own challenges.

Social media should also be responsible

Referring to the power of social media, the Supreme Court said that it has 2.85 billion monthly active users as of March 2021. This is more than a third of the total population of the world. The court said that if seen in the national context, Facebook is the most popular social media platform in India with about 270 million registered users. With such great power comes responsibility. The Supreme Court also said that Facebook has played an important role in giving people freedom of speech and expression. It should not be guarded by the state but the fact also cannot be ignored that subversive messages, voices and ideology are also emerging from this platform.
this is the whole matter

In fact, in the case of Delhi riots of February 2020, the Peace and Harmony Committee of the Delhi Assembly has summoned Ajit Mohan, Vice President and MD of Facebook India. The committee has summoned Mohan on September 10 and 18 last year and asked him to appear before it. The summons were sent by the committee in connection with the probe into his role in the spread of alleged inflammatory speeches during the riots. Facebook had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the summons. During the hearing on the same, the court made these harsh comments and dismissed the petition. However, on September 23 last year, the Supreme Court, while giving relief to Facebook, ordered the committee of Delhi Assembly not to take any punitive action against it.