As we cheer Twitter blues of the privileged, Big Tech keeps evading transparency

Since Twitter under Elon Musk started taking away legacy blue ticks from over 300,000 of its privileged accounts, there has been a massive outbreak of schadenfreude on social media. Indians are currently soaking in the spectacle of celebrities and powerful individuals like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and Ratan Tata losing their blue ticks. It is as if their aura has been trimmed, they have been dealt a sharp sting of public humiliation. Handing out blue ticks to celebrities, journalists, and other public personalities was problematic. It was an online extension of the elitist culture that exists in society. A lot of times, handing out blue ticks seemed ideologically biased and arbitrary. Why should any verifiable human not stand a chance to be verified? So, one needed this purging of elitism. Buying one’s blue tick does introduce an element of class, but it still democratises it for a much wider user base. It is now just a service — longer videos, prominence in conversations and suchlike — to be bought at $8 a month. But beyond rejoicing that the rich and powerful are losing automatic membership of an elite Twitter club, pertinent questions are not being asked to Twitter in specific, Big Tech in general. Why should it not make its algorithms transparent? Why should social media users know why they are being shadow-banned or their follower counts eroded? Which invisible tech commands rule their online life? How much of their private information is being used to manipulate them? What is Big Tech doing to make social media safer and less addictive for children? These and many other questions need to be constantly asked and answers demanded from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and, most importantly, Google. With the General Elections 2024 approaching, a number of prominent social media users have started complaining of shadow bans, follower erosion and ‘de-boosting’. While the West keeps lecturing the world on democracy, are the eyes and ears of its worldwide network, Big Tech, going to manipulate voters in the world’s biggest democratic exercise? India is ready with the outlines of its new tech policy, the Digital India Act (DIA), which is likely to try and address most of these issues. It will take the place of the IT Act by overhauling it. The new Act will regulate the myriad corners of the digital industry, including social media companies, e-commerce platforms, search engines, gaming, telecom providers, over-the-top (OTT) platforms, and artificial intelligence. The DIA will ensure minors are protected from addictive technology. There will be regulations to curb fake news on social media platforms. The Act will also define and regulate AI and wearables. Crucially, it will demand accountability and transparency of algorithms. The DIA will require amendments to the Competition Act and a mechanism for appeal to hold Big Tech companies accountable for breaches. Beyond blue ticks, there is a profound need to deal with some of the more problematic creatures in the vast, blue ocean named social media. That war is just beginning. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.