We won’t be surprised if this is a thought that has struck others as well. Well, even if it has, it’s not been very vocal, yet. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das the question for the December 2 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. Will the fact that international media platforms like Meta and Google are so large and influential impact India’s geo- and socio-political interests?
A. Answering this question is challenging as in a flat world, where information and data flow are geography-neutral, the possibilities of its misuse, both for individual or nation-states, could not be ruled out. There are already enough empirical evidences of algorithm-led predictive analytics, dominating our choices across the spectrum of human life. Citizens don’t even understand the implications of every click. Countries have not yet been able to converge on a unified policy regime to mitigate possibilities of misuse of massive data flow that are gathered by tech giants. One can’t deny the benefits of the internet and social media in consumers’ life but they also, in its turn, create a vicious circle of surveillance of users’ choices.
But if the internet is expected to be a global public good, then its governance should also be globally conceived and shared.
A critical challenge is how to facilitate creation of publicly oriented enterprises to play an active role and ensure that internet becomes an egalitarian public sphere activity, as it was originally envisioned. But I wonder if there is any political and social will, globally, to move in that direction?
While I understand your concern, as expressed in your question, I have no answer to it.