DNA Edit: Facebook Factor

Mark Zuckerberg’s statements to the US Congress that he would do his best to ensure that private data was not breached and Facebook would not allow such breaches to affect elections is hardly credible. 

In any case, the damage is done. In response to a government notice, Facebook has said that data of over five lakh Indians has already been compromised. But, can one rely on the number given by Facebook, is the big question here.

Given that Indians lead the world with the largest number of Facebook users, at an estimated 250 million, it is more than likely that the volume of the data breach is much larger.  Against this backdrop, and given the fact that in the 2019 General Elections, India will see an explosion of first-time voters, the risk is more than real.

With millennials depending on social media for news and information, and over 133 million first-time voters, issues such as data breaches, fake news clips, etc, could have impact perception, and affect polling. Bigger threats in the form of intervention from a third country or even organisations with vested interests, such as the Khalistani movement in Canada, via social media manipulations are the dangerous realities of today’s world, which the government, states, Opposition parties, the Election Commission and the common man alike has to face and live with.

The chilling reality is that the Facebook co-founder’s promises of a cleanup come too late, at least for India. Adequate legislation, guidelines, educating people on what is fake news or a fake account, and taking action against a person or firm that is leaking data to parties will take time.

However, there is a paucity of time, despite Zuckerberg’s promises to put these measures into place. So, India and Indians must cross their fingers and hope the ‘Facebook factor’ will not lead to allegations of electoral malpractice. But this may be asking for too much.