Social Media and Digital Privacy Laws

Abstract:

The study seeks to clarify the scope and direction of developments in privacy policies implemented by social media platforms operating in the Indian market. It includes a comprehensive review of regulatory frameworks, regulatory frameworks and industry standards on data protection and user privacy. Furthermore, this study aims to shed light on several aspects of user privacy in the context of Indian social media. The examining consent processes, data privacy practices, transparent data processing and remedial procedures in cases of privacy breaches. The study seeks to analyze the effectiveness of recent initiatives by social media companies to improve user privacy. This includes requiring features such as enhanced user controls, data anonymity mechanisms and strict adherence to data protection laws.

Apart from assessing the current state of affairs, this study also seeks to identify potential areas for improvement in privacy policy in the Indian social media ecosystem. It requires stakeholders from a variety of sectors including policymakers, industry experts, legal professionals and civil society organisations. By providing nuanced understanding of the evolving state of privacy policy on Indian social media, this study aims to contribute to an ongoing dialogue around digital rights, data sovereignty and ethical considerations in online communication. Ultimately, she wants to inform evidence-based policy interventions and industry best practices that prioritize protecting user privacy in an increasingly connected world.

Introduction

The impact of online social media cannot be overstated in today’s connected world. With humans exceeding the globalization of power and our ability to transcend geographical boundaries, social media platforms have changed the way we communicate, share information, and interact with others. While social media provides unparalleled access to a wealth of content and information, it also raises serious concerns about the privacy of users. In the early days of social networking, user privacy may have been less defined or understood compared to today’s standards. However, as digital communication has matured, so has the discourse around privacy. Media and academic research has increasingly focused on the implications of sharing personal information on social media.

India is a highly demographic area and provides strong growth potential for the development of social media in 1990. Technology and mass digitalization are widely accepted like mass and social relationships. Awareness is growing about the importance of protecting past information The exponential growth in the use of social media has led to the sharing of unprecedented amounts of personal information online. This volume of data presents huge challenges in protecting privacy, as users are vulnerable to data breaches, identity theft, targeted advertising etc. As a result, there is an urgent need for strong privacy measures to ensure that sensitive user information remains secure and protected from unauthorized access or they are not abused.

The Indian scenario is a microcosm of broader global trends in digital privacy, highlighting the interplay of technological advances, regulatory frameworks and complex social expectations Policy makers, industry stakeholders and those who implementation carefully navigates this terrain to balance innovation with privacy protection. By implementing effective regulations and adopting best practices in data protection, we can leverage the benefits of social media to reduce risks to individual privacy and security. Ultimately, it is only through concerted efforts and sustained dialogue that we can meet the challenges posed by social media in today’s connected world.

What is social media?

The term “social media” was used for the very first time in the online media platform “Metisse[1]” in 1994. In its emerging, social media had only a handful of platforms with very low traffic, the term "social media" encompassed a narrow range of online content but when the digital landscape is growing, the definition and size of social media continued. When we talk about social media today, we don’t just have traditional social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Instead, the term has been expanded to encompass a wide range of online platforms that facilitate communication, collaboration, and the sharing of various content. So, social media now includes a variety of platforms, each serving different purposes and consuming them meeting the needs of a particular application. It also includes blogs, where individuals can post their thoughts, opinions and knowledge on a wide range of topics. Collaborative tools such as wikis and open-source software development platforms allow users to work together to collaborate and exchange content. Professional networking and corporate networking provide companies with tools to communicate, share information, and collaborate in a corporate environment. Twitter and other microblogs allow users to share short, concise posts and have real-time conversations. Forums provide virtual spaces for users to discuss specific topics, seek advice, and share knowledge with like-minded individuals.

Product review systems allow consumers to share their experiences and opinions about products and services, thereby influencing purchasing decisions for others. Social bookmarking sites allow users to save and organize web pages for future reference, while photo sharing programs like Instagram and Pinterest allow users to share visual content with their followers Social gaming platforms for them users have the opportunity to participate in multiplayer games and interact with friends and strangers alike. Video sharing platforms like YouTube allow users to upload, view and share videos on a wide range of topics. Social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are still the primary places you connect with friends, family, colleagues and community members. Virtual wakes and online communities provide immersive digital environments where users can interact through avatars, participate in virtual events, and explore virtual scenes. The breadth and depth of social media platforms are changing the way we communicate, we collaborate and consume online.

University College London defines Social Media as “a technology that affords ‘scalable sociality’. This this means that a social media provides greater control in communication over both the degree of privacy and size of group, when compared with previous forums of communication media.”[2]

Social media is a dynamic term and a single definition cannot encircle it. The term had a different meaning in its initial days and quoted differently now. The term "social media" now conjures up a rich tapestry of online forms that facilitate forms of social interactions, information sharing and community building. This diversity highlights the ever-expanding role of social media in our digital lives emphasis, beyond mere photographic images and development in the modern social world where communication, description, is the dominant mode of communication.

Youth and Social Media.

The Internet has become one of the most ubiquitous components of modern society, providing unprecedented access to information and communication. This channel extends to social media channels, which have become embedded in the lives of today’s youth to an unprecedented degree compared to previous generations. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have become intrinsic in the digital diet of young people, raising serious concerns about their use and influence. The widespread adoption of these platforms amongst young people highlights the need for careful monitoring and regulation to ensure responsible and safe use.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center[3] between April 14 and May 4, 2022, nearly 95% of most teens between the ages of 13 and 17 said they had used YouTube at some point as a primary form of entertainment, news and social connections among teens focuses on the widespread influence of YouTube. YouTube and other platforms among youth emphasize the need for proactive content management to address potential user risks and challenges. Issues such as online privacy, cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and digital manipulation require effective engagement by parents, educators, policymakers and platform providers and they are involved. Furthermore, as the digital landscape continues to evolve and new platforms emerge, there is a need to change regulatory frameworks and educational systems to better protect the interests of young users. By promoting digital literacy, encouraging responsible online practices and implementing effective safety measures, we can increase the complexity of the online world for today’s youth and create a digital environment a comfortable and good to go through. More than 65% of the teens reported using Tiktok, followed by Instagram 62% and Snapchat 59%[4]. Facebook’s whistleblower, Frances Haugen[5] revealed that for the company, it is profit at high priority then anyone's mental health. In May 2023, US Surgeon, General Vivek Murthy issued advisory[6] warning about the potential dangers on the mental health children's and teens by social media usage. Apart from all these detrimental effect, Social Media usage by the youngsters also makes them prone to breach of their privacy rights and consequently makes them viable to cyber crimes.

Article 21: Right to Privacy

At its core, "privacy" contains the basic concept of being protected from unreasonable intrusion or interference by others, especially without one's explicit consent. This concept of privacy has gone through extensive legal analysis and interpretation, particularly highlighted in the landmark case of Puttaswamy v. Union of India[7]. In this landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India delivered an unprecedented verdict, confirming that the right to privacy is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of India and creates a human right that privacy affirmed as fundamental constitutionally protected to ensured equality before law, freedom of speech and information, the right to life and personal liberty.

In its profound Declaration, the Supreme Court explained that the right to privacy flows from several rights to social and personal liberty, including personal liberty and dignity. That recognition this took marked a significant departure from previous legal definitions and highlighted its changing nature in relation to fundamental rights. Importantly, the court emphasized that the right to privacy acts as a protector against state intrusion on citizens’ private lives, protecting personal data from way of inappropriate access or use. This protection extends to all aspects of personal data, including biometric information, financial records, medical history and communication exchanges. Furthermore, the decision defined the contours of privacy rights in a logical framework, and recognized that while individual liberty is paramount This nuanced approach seeks to balance privacy protection with the broader policy needs of government and society, ensuring a balance between individual liberty and collective responsibilities in a simple manner

Puttaswamy’s case heralded a new chapter in Indian law, where the right to privacy has reached the cornerstone status of constitutional law. Highlighting the practical value of individual freedom and dignity, the decision highlights the importance of protecting individuals’ privacy rights in an increasingly interconnected and digitalized world. It is an open call for the sanctity of the right to privacy in India to be infused with strong legal safeguards and moral considerations to preserve democracy and human rights.

Social Media and Privacy Rights

The online social media, in the modern society, has become such an integral part of the people lives that one cannot even imagine what life would be without social media to communicate with others. Indeed, the notion of privacy is difficult to define due to its dynamic nature. Some philosophers have defined the term as a function accessibility to a person[8]. The recent trend of shift from traditional communication channel to neo modern platforms like ‘Social Media’, the traditional notion of privacy is under attack and the rapidly developing online communication platform have changed how people understand the term privacy. As the platforms and users are rapidly increasing, the internet model is constantly being upgraded and iterated.

The current, second phase, of world wide web revolution started from 2004. According to Hao Wu’s research[9] on privacy protection of social media, the development of web 2.0 has changed the notion of sharing and accessibility of information on the social media platforms which emerged the need of social media platforms to collect user information and sometimes private information too. According to International Computer Science Institute[10] 8 out of top 10 global advertising and tracking companies have right to sell and share data. This is an evident prove that the user data is not only stolen by these social media platforms but stored and sold by them for profit. In a recent case, where a Chinese ride-hailing application called ‘Didi[11]’ was fined 8.026 billion Yuan for leaking riders personal information. When this incident occurred, people were not surprised that their privacy was breached and their data was sold, which reflects that we have subconsciously accepted that we are constantly being watched and social websites have no privacy.

Development of Digital Privacy Laws in India

The sudden increase in social media platforms and the users have emerged a need for developing the efficient social media and privacy related laws in India. The task is need of hour and lately Legal Enforcement Agencies (LEA) and The Indian Judiciary have realised the fact. In Kharak Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh[12], also known as ‘PUCL Case’, held the tapping of phone amounts to breach of privacy. The fact that India is the second largest internet market makes it very important to amend the cyber laws according to current trends. Article 19(1)(a)[13] of The Indian Constitution provides ‘freedom of speech and expression’ to every person but with reasonable restriction under Article 19(2)[14]. In the same way, Article 19(1)(a)[15] which guarantee is freedom to social media is not absolute. The Information Technology Act of 2000[16] provides for legal foundation for electronic governance which also provides for establishment of Cyber Appellate Tribunals and Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee.

In 2018, the Information Technology Act was amended to include Section 69A[17] to sensor those piece of information by Government from social media platforms which is deemed necessary in the interest of ‘national security’ and maintain ‘public order’. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics) Regulation Rules of 2021[18] had made the social media business operation prone to government regulation. This regulation required the social media companies to hire Indian based Grievance Redressal Officers (GRO) and remove those sorts of information that is termed as not fit by these officers within a time limit of 24 hours. It also mandates the intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to cause users not to create upload or share prohibited contents on their platforms. The rules also mandates social media platforms to share the monthly compliance reports with these laws. This, indeed is a milestone for the Indian users of the social media platforms to seek redressal for the grievance and common accountability to the social media parent companies when their rights are infringed, specially women. The provision came into force on 25 may 2021.

Conclusion

Social media have considerably transformed the way of individual interaction, communication and information accessibility. The technological improvement have brought many benefits like improvement of connection and availability of information. However, this has also made the privacy concerns for the users and its unfair uses. Government worldwide are in constant attempt to address this complications and regulate the social media to safeguard user privacy of their citizens. In India, the recent trends have emerged in improving the social media regulatory laws of the country, specially the data protection and privacy structure.

References

1. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62248513

2. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=174412a6-fa19-4055-90f9-dec6bb229ac1

3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371579260_Social_Media_Changed_the_Notion_of_Privacy

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8064945/

5. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/teens-and-social-media-key-findings-from-pew-research-center-surveys/

[1] Bercovici J., Who coined social media? Forbes (2010), http://forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2010/12/09/who-coinedsocial-media-web-pioneers-compete-for-credit/2/

[2] University College London, What is social media?, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post/about-us/what-is-social-media

[3] Risa Gelles-Watnick, Teens and Social Media: Key Findiang From Pew Research Center Survey, April 24 (2023), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/teens-and-social-media-key-findings-from-pew-research-center-surveys/

[4] Risa Gelles-Watnick, Teens and Social Media: Key Findiang From Pew Research Center Survey, 22 May (2023),https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=428826

[5] The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/technology/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html, (last visited 22 May,

2024).

[6] Thomas Aichner, Matthias Grunfender, Oswin Maurer and Deni Jegeni,Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, National Library of Medicine, 09 April 2021,https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/23/surgeon-general-issues-new-advisory-about-effects-social-media-use-has-youth-mental-health.html

[7] [2019 (1) SCC 1]

[8] Adrienn, Lukács. [PDF] “What Is Privacy? The History and Definition of Privacy: Semantic Scholar.” Undefined, 1 Jan. 1970. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-is-Privacy-The-History-and-Definition-of-Adrienn/430bfacbabb89c0033b6dcceddc18ba9bbc02c5f.

[9] National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9972973/ , 22 May, 2024.

[10] International Computer Science Institute, https://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/, 22 May, 2024

[11] DIDI, https://web.didiglobal.com/ , 22 May, 2024

[12] [AIR 1963 SUPREME COURT 1295]

[13] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1142233/

[14] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/493243/

[15] See Supra Note14

[16]https://eprocure.gov.in/cppp/rulesandprocs/kbadqkdlcswfjdelrquehwuxcfmijmuixngudufgbuubgubfugbububjxcgfvsbdihbgfGhdfgFHytyhRtMjk4NzY=

[17] https://www.meity.gov.in/69a

[18] https://www.meity.gov.in/content/information-technology-intermediary-guidelines-and-digital-media-ethics-code-rules-2021