Liberty vs. net safety
PremiumThe rousing of raw passions against better judgement must be curbed globally. Insisting that speech can never kill is a cop-out argument. And hatred gone viral hurts us all.
The European Union (EU) has another first to its credit. On Saturday, it unveiled its Digital Services Act, which aims to hold Big Tech firms accountable for hate, fake news, ads aimed at kids and other harmful content on their platforms. They must monitor what goes online and submit reports to authorities on moderation efforts. This EU law follows its Digital Markets Act, designed to limit their market power. The Union was also the first to enact a digital privacy law to safeguard people.
While Elon Musk, who wants to snap up Twitter and remove its extant curbs, and other free speech absolutists may be appalled by the EU move, it’s broadly welcome. Words that can cause loss of life mustn’t get a free pass. That’s misguided liberty. Reasonable limits are needed. In this context back home, India’s information and broadcasting ministry has done well to issue local broadcasters a caution on the blatantly divisive coverage by some news channels of the most recent communal flare-up in Delhi. The rousing of raw passions against better judgement must be curbed globally. Insisting that speech can never kill is a cop-out argument. And hatred gone viral hurts us all.