This is too much control for one company.
This is really bad for democracy.
JIO is deeply embedded into the rural populace. Exactly the ones who are vulnerable to disinformation campaigns.
And facebook just bought a key to the gates.
This is really bad for democracy.
JIO is deeply embedded into the rural populace. Exactly the ones who are vulnerable to disinformation campaigns.
And facebook just bought a key to the gates.
> JIO is deeply embedded into the rural populace. Exactly the ones who are vulnerable to disinformation campaigns.
This deeply concerns me as it will have unwanted consequences.
This is more of a commerce play, nothing to do with disinformation dissemination.
Lets say it violates free speech laws and is liable to be sued and the one who sues is sure to win.
Lets say he sues and wins.
It still doesn't matter. Rumor about the lawsuit and the falsehood of the original content is already old news. And is not as quickly spreading as the original rumor.
The perpetrators of the original rumor win the war to influence, in-spite of free speech protections.
Free speech protections and laws mean nothing and are toothless in face of modern mass media tech.
Compare it to the old days, of the news being said on TV or Radio or in a Newspaper. They too can spread wild rumors but have definite and impactful backlash.
That negative feedback mechanism is lacking in platforms like FB and Whatsapp.
I have seen few people getting beaten up badly and two dying due to mob killing them with law enforcement involved for speaking against "religious stuff" and a politician.
Just a recent thing that got some attention - https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1251818372343439361?s=...
But I assure you, this happens way more in small towns and villages.
If mob gets triggered by you criticising their cows or government (idk why blind patriotism is so widespread here), what would you do about your free speech if you get killed in the process with no enforcement against those who killed you or imagine a family member?
Honestly I am confused about free speech as well. Is the argument that government didn't stop you from criticising itself, just that the mob happens to kill you for it in public in the presence of the government make sense? Is that free speech?
Also the freedom of speech guarantees are very watered down in comparison with the USA.
Indian government itself participates in disinformation campaigns, denies statistics coming from the outside (given india has done nothing on that front and only cut funding), practice blatant discrimination and spreads religious nonsense.
[0] https://internetshutdowns.in/
Oh and the nice bill - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Data_Protection_Bil...
Even I agree, there is too much worship of capitalist and free market structures.
There ought to be a good balance between free market and govt. regulations, where public interests in protected.
Then there are those who suddenly talk like free market capitalists when it's convenient to their politics. I see this all the time with whomever the balance of power is favoring. 15 years ago, it was conservatives who excused private companies that did things that liberals didn't like, as long as those companies appeared to align with their values or were at least agnostic, and now you'll hear liberals who otherwise hate capitalism pull out the "private company" card when it suits their goals or is an affront to the other side.
I believe very few people are actually interested in the public good. Everyone claims they want to do things for the public good. In reality, I think they all want whatever goodies they think they can get by acting as toadies for their party of choice.
There ought to be a balance between freedom and regulation, but this is increasingly becoming a minority opinion.