Sansad TV Perspective: Social Media: Changing dynamics

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic: ‘Social Media: Changing dynamics’.

Guests:

1. Subimal Bhattacharjee, Cyber Security Expert
2. Jiten Jain, Social Media Expert
3. Khushbu Jain, Advocate, Cyber Security Laws

Anchor: Vishal Dahiya

Context:

• Elon Musk has announced that Twitter will charge eight dollars per month to verify user’s accounts.

Details:

• Twitter’s ‘Blue Tick’ or verified subscribers will receive priority placement in replies, mentions and search. Verified accounts will be able to post long videos and audio.
• The new plan’s pricing will be adjusted in proportion to purchasing power parity in different countries.
• Elon Musk is also said to be working on overhaul of various other policies of social media platform Twitter.

Changing dynamics in the social media segment:

• Social media has been witnessing changing dynamics both technologically and in user experience segment.
• There have also been many moves to regulate the social media companies with concerns over the impact they have.
  • European parliament has recently passed the digital services act which looks at the responsibilities of social media companies.
  • India recently had the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

Significance of the change:

• The pricing plan of Twitter is aimed at solving the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company. This could long a long way in bringing more credibility to Twitter.
• This move will also help address the issue of use of social media users being used as data subject in the long run by ensuring an alternative revenue stream for such companies.

Concerns:

• The move to charge users will bring in additional financial burden on some users and affect the rights of some users to express themselves freely.

Recommendations:

• There needs to be some amount of differentiation in the pricing plan proposed by Twitter.
• Given the limitations of self-regulation, there needs to be some degree of general regulations on social media platforms like Twitter.

Read all the previous Sansad TV Perspective articles in the link.

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