DNA Edit: Guidelines Needed - To make social media responsible

Reports that the government is considering an advisory to be put in place for social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp in order to curb fake news at election time is food for thought and raises a number of questions.

The big question is whether an advisory would achieve the objective of making social media responsible, accountable and answerable. Or, whether social media needs to be bound by something stronger, such as guidelines, which are made and enforceable.

If the government is in earnest on this score, then an advisory is of little use. Although social media is an industry, it has shown that it can produce a runaway phenomenon every so often. MeToo is a classic example of such a phenomenon which can spread like a prairie fire untrammelled by any restraint.

At times, such a phenomenon can be a social revolution of sorts, which can wreak immense havoc. In fact, the consequences of such revolutions involve not just reputations but also put at risk lives -- and all of it based on nothing more than declarations which are often than not bereft of evidence.

The swiftness and sweep of these leave no time for reflection, deliberation and weighing of pros and cons; nor do they admit of a pause to check against excesses. In the circumstances, an advisory would barely suffice to address the issue at stake.

What is clearly needed are guidelines and explicitly written guidelines at that. For unless it is known that the guidelines can and would be enforced by an independent, fair, competent and credible authority, social media is unlikely to respect the objectives for which reasonable restraints – and, here, the emphasis should be on ‘reasonable’ -- are intended.

That leads to the question of who should be designated the appropriate authority to set out and enforce the guidelines. In the Indian situation, the appropriate authority can only be the Election Commission. It is a constitutional authority, an institution of state, and not conceived of as an agency or instrument of the government.

The government, doubtless, is the most authoritative when it comes to a grasp of the issues and challenges. However, it need not follow that setting the guidelines should be done by the government alone. The guidelines should be evolved in consultation with all the political parties and, if necessary, other media watchdog organisations; and, the authority to take a final call should be the EC.

In the Indian experience when it comes to codes of conduct and adherence to guidelines, the government – regardless of the party in office – is a bigger offender than the other parties. And, invariably, at election time there is little or no distinction between the government and the ruling party.

Under the guidelines, all parties, and the government, should be made to eschew fake news and desist from purveying these. These are a few of the many points that may be considered while drafting guidelines for social media in the election season.