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  • 3 contenders for National Butterfly Status

    A citizen poll to identify the national butterfly concluded with three species garnering the highest number of votes.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are-
    (a) Birds
    (b) Primates
    (c) Reptiles
    (d) Amphibians

    Which are the three species?

    (1) Indian Jezebel

    • Blessed with a vibrant colour pattern, including vermilion (Haldi – kumkum), the Indian Jezebel (or Common Jezebel) is known to deter its predators with its flashy wing colours.
    • Regarded as soldiers of farmers, they also prey on parasites that infest fruit-bearing plants.
    • Widely distributed, the species can be spotted in gardens and other lightly wooded areas.

    (2) Krishna Peacock

    • It is a flagship species for biodiversity and conservation, generally found in large numbers in the Himalayas.
    • Possessing a peculiarly large swallowtail, its iridescent green scales diffract light to coat itself in radiance.

    (3) Orange Oakleaf

    • It is commonly known as ‘dead leaf’ for its ability to camouflage as a dry autumn leaf while striking a stationary pose with its wings closed.
    • The masquerade enables the species to prevent it from being devoured by birds in the moist forests of the northern Western Ghats, central, northern and northeastern parts of India where they are generally found.
    • Besides, the Oakleaf is also known to exhibit polyphenism as it assumes specific colour and size during dry and wet seasons.

  • Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)

    The article highlights the importance of CAG in times of disasters to ensure check and balances.

    Context

    • With the nation spending substantial resources to manage the pandemic, the role of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has come into prominence.

    Opportunity for corruption in pandemic

    • Allegations of siphoning off of funds to purchase the inferior quality at prices higher than those prevailing in the market are made.
    • The opportunity to indulge in corruption exists in disaster management.
    •  Emergency procurement to save lives and reduce sufferings are a chance to obfuscate rules and procedures and can happen in all three tiers of governance.

    Role of the CAG

    • If all the major purchases by governments are audited by the CAG, there can be substantial improvement in disaster management.
    • It will usher in better transparency, integrity, honesty, effective service delivery and compliance with rules and procedures and governance.
    • The CAG has issued an order creating a new vertical — health, welfare and rural development, restructuring the office of the Director General of Audit, Central Expenditure.
    • It is necessary that the CAG undertakes performance audits of COVID-19 related procurements, the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and Employee State Insurance (ESI) hospitals.
    •  A beneficiary survey will become part of the audit process to bring out efficacy of service delivery and the availability and quality of drugs.
    • Audit recommendations can contribute improvements in various aspects of disaster preparedness, management and mitigation.

    Benefits of audit

    • The statutory responsibility of CAG includes appraising disaster preparedness, ensuring that management, mitigation operations, procedures are complied with, and proper internal controls are in place.
    • Ensuring that there are proper records, documentation, authentic, accurate, reliable and complete information and data.
    • Providing assurance to people’s representatives, tax payers and the public at large that government resources are being used prudentially as per the law and regulations and safeguarded.
    • Providing assurance that risks are assessed, identified and minimised with established disaster management process and procedures.
    • Offering assurance that resources are being used economically efficiently and effectively for achieving the planned objectives and that benefits have gone to the targeted beneficiaries.

    Conclusion

    All public entities management must be accountable and ensure that resources are managed properly and used in compliance with laws and regulations; programmes are achieving their objectives; and services are being provided efficiently, effectively, and economically.

  • Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill needs a thorough review

    There are several issues with the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill and these issues need consideration before the passage of the Bill.

    What the Bill aims to achieve

    • Union Health Minister introduced the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 (Bill) in the Lok Sabha.
    • Its aim is to regulate ART banks and clinics, allow safe and ethical practice of ARTs and protect women and children from exploitation.
    • The Bill was introduced to supplement the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 (SRB), which awaits consideration by the Rajya Sabha after review by two parliamentary committees.

    Concerns with the Bill

    1)  Exclusion in the access of ART

    • .The Bill allows for a married heterosexual couple and a woman above the age of marriage to use ARTs.
    • It excludes single men, cohabiting heterosexual couples and LGBTQI individuals and couples from accessing ARTs.
    • This violates Article 14 of the Constitution and the right to privacy jurisprudence of Puttaswamy, where the Supreme Court held that “ the liberty of procreation, the choice of a family life” concerned all individuals irrespective of their social status and were aspects of privacy.
    • In Navtej Johar case, Justice Chandrachud exhorted the state to take positive steps for equal protection for same-sex couples.
    • Unlike the SRB, there is no prohibition on foreign citizens accessing ARTs.
    • Foreigners can access ART but not Indian citizens in loving relationships.
    • This fails to reflect the true spirit of the Constitution.

    2) Consent

    • The ART Bill does little to protect the egg donor.
    • Harvesting of eggs is an invasive process which, if performed incorrectly, can result in death.
    • The Bill requires an egg donor’s written consent but does not provide for her counselling or the ability to withdraw her consent before or during the procedure.
    • She receives no compensation or reimbursement of expenses for loss of salary, time and effort.
    • Failing to pay for bodily services constitutes unfree labour, which is prohibited by Article 23 of the Constitution.
    • The commissioning parties only need to obtain an insurance policy in her name for medical complications or death; no amount or duration is specified.
    • The egg donor’s interests are subordinated in a Bill proposed in her name.
    • The Bill restricts egg donation to a married woman with a child (at least three years old).

    3) Threat of eugenics

    • The Bill requires pre-implantation genetic testing.
    • If the embryo suffers from “pre-existing, heritable, life-threatening or genetic diseases”, it can be donated for research with the commissioning parties’ permission.
    • These disorders need specification or the Bill risks promoting an impermissible programme of eugenics.

    4) Overlap with Surrogacy Regulation

    • There is considerable overlap between ART and SRB sectors. Yet the Bills do not work in tandem.
    • Core ART processes are left undefined; several of these are defined in the SRB.
    • Definitions of commissioning “couple”, “infertility”, “ART clinics” and “banks” need to be synchronised between the Bills.
    • A single woman cannot commission surrogacy but can access ART.
    • The Bill designates surrogacy boards under the SRB to function as advisory bodies for ART, which is desirable.
    • However, both Bills set up multiple bodies for registration which will result in duplication or lack of regulation (e.g. surrogacy clinic is not required to report surrogacy to National Registry).
    • Also, the same offending behaviours under both Bills are punished differently + punishments under the SRB are greater.
    • Offences under the Bill are bailable but not under the SRB.
    • Finally, records have to be maintained for 10 years under the Bill but for 25 years under the SRB.
    • The same actions taken by a surrogacy clinic and ART clinic  attract varied regulation.

    Other concerns

    • Children born from ART do not have the right to know their parentage, which is crucial to their best interests and protected under previous drafts.
    • There is no distinction between ART banks and ART clinics, given that gamete donation is not compensated, economically viability of ART Banks raises a question.
    • In previous drafts, gametes could not be gifted between known friends and relatives if this is not changed, gamete shortage is likely.
    •  The Bill’s prohibition on the sale, transfer, or use of gametes and embryos is poorly worded and will confuse foreign and domestic parents relying on donated gametes.
    • Unusually, the Bill requires all bodies to be bound by the directions of central and state governments in the national interest, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality — being broadly phrased, it undermines their independence.

    Way forward

    • The Bill to maintain a grievance cell but clinics must instead have ethics committees.
    • Mandated counselling services should also be independent of the clinic.
    • The poor enforcement of the PCPNDT Act, 1994, demonstrates that enhanced punishments do not secure compliance — lawyers and judges also lack medical expertise.
    • Patients already sue fertility clinics in consumer redressal fora, which is preferable to criminal courts.

    Conclusion

    The Bill raises several constitutional, medico-legal, ethical and regulatory concerns, affecting millions and must be thoroughly reviewed before passage.

  • Television Rating Points (TRP) System and its loopholes

    Mumbai police are investigating the alleged manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRP) by an extremely right-wing opinionated news reporter.

    Try this question:

    Q.What do you mean by “TRP Journalism”? Discuss the loopholes in the present system of self-regulation in Indian media.

    What is TRP?

    • In simple terms, anyone who watches television for more than a minute is considered a viewer.
    • The TRP or Target Rating Point is the metric used by the marketing and advertising agencies to evaluate this viewership.
    • In India, the TRP is recorded by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) using Bar-O-Meters that are installed in televisions in selected households.
    • As on date, the BARC has installed these meters in 44,000 households across the country. Audio watermarks are embedded in video content prior to broadcast.
    • These watermarks are not audible to the human ear, but can easily be detected and decoded using dedicated hardware and software.
    • As viewing details are recorded by the Bar-O-Meters, so are the watermarks.

    What is BARC?

    • It is an industry body jointly owned by advertisers, ad agencies, and broadcasting companies, represented by The Indian Society of Advertisers, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Advertising Agencies Association of India.
    • Though it was created in 2010, the I&B Ministry notified the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India on January 10, 2014, and registered BARC in July 2015 under these guidelines, to carry out television ratings in India.

    How are the households selected?

    • Selection of households where Bar-O-Meters are installed is a two-stage process.
    • The first step is the Establishment Survey, a large-scale face-to-face survey of a sample of approximately 3 lakh households from the target population. This is done annually.
    • Out of these, the households which will have Bar-O-Meters or what the BARC calls the Recruitment Sample are randomly selected. The fieldwork to recruit households is not done directly by BARC.
    • The BARC on its website has said that the viewing behaviour of panel homes is reported to BARC India daily. Coincidental checks either physically or telephonically are done regularly.

    Vigilance activities by BARC

    • Certain suspicious outliers are also checked directly by BARC India.
    • BARC India also involves a separate vigilance agency to check on outliers that it considers highly suspicious.
    • And as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, these households rotate every year.
    • This rotation is in such a manner that older panel homes are removed first while maintaining the representativeness of the panel.
    • The Ministry guidelines further say that the secrecy and privacy of the panel homes must be maintained, and asked the BARC to follow a voluntary code of conduct.

    What are the loopholes in the process?

    • Several doubts have been raised on many previous occasions about the working of the TRP.
    • As per several reports, about 70% of the revenue for television channels comes from advertising and only 30% from subscriptions.
    • It is claimed that households were being paid to manipulate the TRP.

  • Is Indian economy going through stagflation

    The article analyses the challenge faced by the Monetary Policy Committee in wake of a pandemic where falling growth is accompanied by the rising inflation.

    Dilemma with inflation targetting in pandemic

    • After the RBI’s adoption of a flexible inflation targeting framework from August 2020, it became even more focused on anchoring inflation and inflation expectations than ever before.
    • But the COVID pandemic has created a dilemma for the RBI.
    • Higher-than-anticipated inflation compelled the monetary policy committee (MPC) to hold policy rates despite the contraction in April-June GDP by 23.9 per cent.

     CPI vs. WPI: Which should be focused for inflation targeting?

    • Inflation-targeting framework based on one narrow nominal consumer price index (CPI)  has highlighted the challenges of conducting monetary policy in a severe growth shock scenario.
    • Inflation targeting is particularly challenging if it coincides with a sharp increase in headline CPI inflation as in the current period.
    • The current framework has led to an excessive and obsessive emphasis on point CPI estimates, at the cost of ignoring other indicators.
    • WPI core inflation, which essentially represents the manufacturing sector, is below 1 per cent but this does not find much mention.
    • This is strange because ultimately, the GDP deflator is calculated using both CPI and WPI inflation, with the latter having a greater weight.
    • This should be taken into consideration, while reviewing the existing monetary policy framework.
    • Given the composition of the current CPI basket, RBI’s monetary policy actions can at best impact only 41.35 per cent of the overall items.
    • Food and beverages, fuel items, gold and silver tobacco/intoxicants are items over which the RBI does not have any control.[58.65 per cent of the overall items]

    This is a different time

    • In normal times, a sustained increase in food and fuel prices can lead to a generalised increase in prices.
    • But this argument is not valid in the current context where a large number of people have lost their jobs or have seen fall in incomes.
    • In the current context, higher food and fuel prices would lead to reduction in expenditure on discretionary items.
    • So there will be only a relative shift in prices, without any fear of a generalised spiral, as households will not be in any position to demand higher wages to compensate for the increase in prices of food and fuel items.
    • Given the amount of slack in the economy, a scenario of sustained generalised increase in prices seems unlikely over the next 6-9 months.

    How to measure the success of inflation targeting

    • The CPI inflation targeting framework has helped to reduce inflation expectations during FY17-FY21 on average (9.3 per cent) compared to the previous period of FY12- FY16 (12.8 per cent).
    • However, the gap between inflation expectations and actual CPI inflation has remained unchanged at 5.1 per cent during these two periods.
    • The success of the inflation-targeting framework should not only be judged by the actual CPI inflation trend, but also in terms of gap between the two.

    How RBI performed without inflation targeting framework in the past

    • Even without any formal inflation-targeting framework, India had successfully managed to keep inflation low during FY02-FY06.
    • The RBI’s stance then was based on a multiple-indicator approach to conduct monetary policy.
    • First factor that made it possible was the increase in minimum support prices of food-grains was kept below 3 per cent on average.
    • Second factor was the composition of growth which was better during this period with investment growth surpassing consumption growth by several percentage points.
    • It is for this reason that CPI inflation remained contained at 4 per cent on average during this period even with 7 per cent real GDP growth.

    Risk of structural increase in inflation

    • In the current cycle, investment growth is likely to be impacted more severely than consumption growth.
    • Given the acute weakness in the demand side of the economy, persistent problems in the real estate sector, continued deleveraging of the NBFC sector and significant job losses structural increase in inflation is limited.

    What should be the policy response

    • The scope for rate cuts remains dim in the near-term.
    • But the RBI to remain active with a host of unconventional measures, which will likely include more proactive bond purchases to ensure that market interest rates do not rise significantly due to fiscal and market borrowing-related concerns.

    Conclusion

    Given the prevailing unholy mix of growth and inflation, it is tempting to categorise India’s economic situation as one of “stagflation”. But, in our view, it is too early to conclude decisively on this matter, given the fluid nature of things.

    Back2Basics: Inflation expectations

    • Inflation expectations are what people expect future inflation to be, and they matter because these expectations actually affect people’s behavior.
    • If people expect inflation to be lower and they act on those beliefs, they could, in fact, cause inflation to be lower.
    • If businesses expect lower inflation, they may raise prices at a slower rate; they don’t want the prices of their items to look too out of line with those of their competitors.
    • If workers expect lower inflation, they may ask for smaller wage increases.
    • The combination of businesses and workers acting in this manner will result in the economy experiencing lower inflation.

     

     

     

  • Provisions for platform workers in the labour code and issues with them

    The article examines the provision made for the platform workers and the gig workers in the labour codes passed by the Parliament recently and explains the issues with it.

    Context

    • The three new labour codes passed by Parliament recently acknowledge platform and gig workers as new occupational categories in the making.

    Definition issue

    • The specific issues of working in factories, the duration of time needed on a factory floor, and associated issues are recognised as the parameters for defining an ideal worker.
    • The Code on Wages, 2019, tries to expand this idea by using ‘wages’ as the primary definition of who an ‘employee’ is.
    • Yet, the terms ‘gig worker’, ‘platform worker’ and ‘gig economy’ not defined with in connection with their wages.
    • The new Code on Social Security allows a platform worker to be defined by their vulnerability — not their labour, nor the vulnerabilities of platform work.

    Issues with the code

    • Since the laws are prescriptive, what is written within them creates the limits to what rights can be demanded, and how these rights can be demanded.
    • Platform delivery people can claim benefits, but not labour rights.
    • This distinction makes them beneficiaries of State programmes.
    • This does not allow them to go to court to demand better and stable pay, or regulate the algorithms that assign the tasks.
    • This also means that the government or courts cannot pull up platform companies for lapses[ ex. choice of pay, work hours etc].

    Benefits with no guarantee

    • In the Code on Social Security, 2020, platform workers are now eligible for benefits like maternity benefits, life and disability cover, old age protection, provident fund, employment injury benefits, and so on.
    • None of these are secure benefits.
    • This means that from time to time, the Central government can formulate welfare schemes that cover these aspects of personal and work security, but they are not guaranteed.
    • Actualising these benefits will depend on the political will at the Central and State government-levels and how unions elicit political support.
    • The language in the Code is open enough to imply that platform companies can be called upon to contribute either solely or with the government.

    Consider the question “What are the provisions for gig workers and platform workers in the new labour code? What are the issues with the provision?”

    Conclusion

    The ‘platform worker’ identity has the potential to grow in power and scope, but it will be mediated by politicians, election years, rates of under-employment, and large, investment- heavy technology companies that are notorious for not complying with local laws.

  • Right to Protest

    The Supreme Court has found the indefinite “occupation” of a public road by the Shaheen Bagh protestors unacceptable.

    Right to Protest

    • The right to protest is the manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of speech.
    • The Constitution of India provides the right of freedom, given in Article 19 with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution.
    • The Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Article 19(1) (a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression; Article 19(1) (b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
    • Article 19(2) imposes reasonable restrictions on the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

    What did the Court say?

    • The court said the protest, considered an iconic dissent mounted by mothers, children and senior citizens of Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, became inconvenient to commuters.
    • The judgment upheld the right to peaceful protest against the law but made it unequivocally clear that public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied, and that too indefinitely.
    • Democracy and dissent go hand in hand, but then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.
    • The present case was not even one of the protests taking place in an undesignated area but was a blockage of a public way which caused grave inconvenience to commuters.

    Reasonable restrictions do exist in practice

    • Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protester has to be balanced with the right of the commuter. They have to co-exist in mutual respect.
    • The court held it was entirely the responsibility of the administration to prevent encroachments in public spaces.

  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry for CRISPR Technology

    French-American duo Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for the chemistry of CRISPR, which allows scientists to ‘cut-paste’ inside a genetic sequence.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.What is Cas9 protein that is often mentioned in news?

    (a) A molecular scissors used in targeted gene editing

    (b) A biosensor used in the accurate detection of pathogens in patients

    (c) A gene that makes plants pest-resistant

    (d) A herbicidal substance synthesized in genetically modified crops

    The CRISPR technology

    • The CRISPR is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, developed in the year 2012
    • CRISPR has made gene editing very easy and simple, and at the same time extremely efficient.
    • The technology works in a simple way — it locates the specific area in the genetic sequence which has been diagnosed to be the cause of the problem, cuts it out, and replaces it with a new and correct sequence that no longer causes the problem.
    • The technology replicates a natural defence mechanism in some bacteria that use a similar method to protect itself from virus attacks.

    Working of CRISPR

    • An RNA molecule is programmed to locate the particular problematic sequence on the DNA strand.
    • A special protein called Cas9, often described in popular literature as ‘genetic scissor’, is used to break and remove the problematic sequence.
    • A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to repair itself. But the auto-repair mechanism can lead to the re-growth of a problematic sequence.
    • Scientists intervene during this auto-repair process by supplying the desired sequence of genetic codes, which replaces the original sequence.
    • It is like cutting a portion of a long zipper somewhere in between and replacing that portion with a fresh segment.
    • Because the entire process is programmable, it has a remarkable efficiency and has already brought almost miraculous results.

    Uses of CRISPR

    • There are a whole lot of diseases and disorders, including some forms of cancer, that are caused by an undesired genetic mutation.
    • These can all be fixed with this technology. There are vast applications elsewhere as well. Genetic sequences of disease-causing organisms can be altered to make them ineffective.
    • Genes of plants can be edited to make them withstand pests, or improve their tolerance to drought or temperature.

    Ethical concerns

    • In November 2018, a Chinese researcher in Shenzen created an international sensation with his claim that he had altered the genes of a human embryo that eventually resulted in the birth of twin baby girls.
    • This was the first documented case of a ‘designer babies’ being produced using the new gene-editing tools like CRISPR.
    • What made matters worse was that the gene-editing was probably done without any regulatory permission or oversight.

  • [pib] Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

    The Union Cabinet has approved the Ratification of seven chemicals listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

    Stockholm Convention

    • It is a global treaty to protect human health and environment from POPs, which are identified chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate in living organisms, adversely affect human health/ environment and have the property of long-range environmental transport (LRET).

    Key Provisions:  The provisions of the Convention require each party to:

    • Prohibit and/or eliminate the production and use, as well as the import and export, of the intentionally, produced POPs that are listed in Annex A to the Convention
    • Restrict the production and use, as well as the import and export, of the intentionally, produced POPs that are listed in Annex B to the Convention
    • Reduce or eliminate releases from unintentionally produced POPs that are listed in Annex C to the Convention
    • Ensure that stockpiles and wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPs are managed safely and in an environmentally sound manner

    Do you know?

    The Global Environment Facility (GEF) serves as a financial mechanism for the following conventions:

    1. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
    2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
    3. UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
    4. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
    5. Minamata Convention on Mercury

    What are POPs?

    • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), sometimes known as “forever chemicals” are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes.
    • Because of their persistence, POPs bioaccumulate with potential adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
    • Many POPs are currently or were in the past used as pesticides, solvents, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals.
    • Although some POPs arise naturally (e.g from volcanoes), most are man-made via total synthesis.

    Threats of POPs

    • Exposure to POPs can lead to cancer, damage to central & peripheral nervous systems, diseases of the immune system, reproductive disorders and interference with normal infant and child development.

    India’s actions on POPs till now

    • The MoEFCC had notified the ‘Regulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants Rules, on March 5, 2018, under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
    • The regulation prohibited the manufacture, trade, use, import and export seven chemicals which were already listed as POPs under Stockholm Convention-
    1. Chlordecone
    2. Hexabromobiphenyl
    3. Hexabromodiphenyl ether and Heptabromodiphenylether (Commercial octa-BDE)
    4. Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial Penta-BDE)
    5. Pentachlorobenzene
    6. Hexabromocyclododecane and
    7. Hexachlorobutadiene

  • Tackling the challenge of Big Tech

    The article discusses the threat posed by the spread of misinformation on the internet and suggests the steps to tackle it.

    Warning for India

    • The U.S.’s experience with the Internet should serve as a stark warning to India.
    • Most Americans now get their news from dubious Internet sources.
    • This resulted in hardening of political stances and the acute polarisation of the average American’s viewpoint.
    • For India, the danger is that like the U.S., such extreme polarisation can happen in a few short years.
    • There are anywhere between 500 million and 700 million people are now newly online, almost all from towns and rural areas.

    Use of targeted algorithm

    • Social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter have become the source of news for the people, but these have no journalistic norms.
    • The spread of the misinformation or news has been greatly enhanced by the highly targeted algorithms that these companies use.
    • They are likely to bombard users with information that serves to reinforce what the algorithm thinks the searcher needs to know.
    • As they familiarise themselves with the Internet, newly online Indians are bound to fall prey to algorithms that social network firms use.

    Steps to control the misinformation on the internet

    • 1) Tech firms are already under fire from all quarters,  nonetheless, we need to act.
    • They are struggling to meet calls to contain the online spread of misinformation and hate speech.
    • 2) Unlike the U.S., India might need to chart its own path by regulating these firm before they proliferate.
    • In the U.S., these issues were not sufficiently legislated for and have existed for over a decade.
    • Free speech is inherent in the Constitution of many democracies, including India’s.
    • This means that new Indian legislation needs to preserve free speech while still applying pressure to make sure that Internet content is filtered for accuracy, and sometimes, plain decency.
    • 3) The third issue is corporate responsibility.
    • Facebook, for instance, has started to address this matter by publishing ‘transparency reports’ and setting up an ‘oversight board’.
    • But we cannot ignore the fact that these numbers reflect judgements that are made behind closed doors.
    • What should be regulatory attempts to influence the transparency are instead being converted into secret corporate processes.
    • We have no way of knowing the extent of biases that may be inherent inside each firm.
    • The fact that their main algorithms target advertising and hyper-personalisation of content makes them further suspect as arbiters of balanced news.
    • This means that those who use social media platforms must pull in another direction to maintain access to a range of sources and views.

    Consider the question “What are the factors responsible for the spread of misinformation on social media and suggest the measures to tackle it.”

    Conclusion

    We need strong intervention now. Else, in addition to the media, which has largely been the responsible fourth estate, we may well witness the creation of an unmanageable fifth estate in the form of Big Tech.