Social media – adding my two cents to the hot discussion

If a foreigner or NRI wants to set up a company in India, it requires a local director (who is a resident in India). The branch of a foreign company requires a local authorized representative. Why? Because if someone wants to contact the company, issue legal notices, make a person accountable for the action of the company, it has to be a local human being. Hence this rule.

A few years back, while traveling in Uber, I had a billing issue. I wanted to call the call center, then I realized that there was no call center, no human being could be accessed! All over the app and with limited options through a drop-down menu. That is when I thought how come our country has allowed these operators to do business in India without any grievance redressal system in place.

The new norms to be complied by Social Media platforms are similar to this. The Government has amended the Information Technology (intermediary) Guidelines. Wherein the Government wants the Resident Grievance Officer and his team to be based in India, so that if any derogatory messages are posted, then if the Government can ask for such content to be disabled or if people have grievances, they can be addressed in a time-bound manner. (some more points are there. No need to mention about it here)

If you ask me:

  • The social media platforms have to comply with the law of the Land
  • They have to charge per user; say Whatsapp or Facebook or Instagram – Rs.500 per month. Then 99% of unwanted messages will be out of circulation. People will not waste their time and also pay the charges!
  • Benefit – In the spare time, people will start reading, writing and also listening to good music.
  • Kids will start studying. They will have more quality time
  • The employee productivity at offices will go up. They will not waste chatting on social media
  • The hatred among communities, parties will reduce. Indirectly, relationships will be better among friends and relatives.

Please tell me what is the benefit of social media? Except transmitting the information at lightning speed. (Do we really need the information so fast? For what purpose? Can’t we wait for the information?)

According to me, the disadvantage of social media platforms outweighs the advantages.  I may sound like an outdated or old timer. (sorry, if you don’t agree) the Government should go ahead and ban them, if possible.

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About B E Kumar Prasad

B E Kumar Prasad
He is a Practicing Chartered Accountant in Bengaluru, India. He has 28+ years of experience in income tax, business setup, and NRI matters. He is also an Insolvency Professional, Registered Valuer (F&SA) and Social Auditor.Prasad welcomes your comments and questions. Please email him at simplifiedlaws20@gmail.com

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Mahesh
Mahesh
3 years ago

Could not agree more! Sir, you are not alone in this.

These media are ruining the family fabric, society and nation at large and create addicts beyond redemption.

People do anything and everything on these media free of cost. There is great indirect cost too. Use of media takes away a large bandwidth of internet for destructive purpose, slowing it down for genuine users.

A min Rs 500 is a good suggestion to start with.

Sriram Iyengar
Sriram Iyengar
3 years ago

Super sir. Completely agree. The junk content makers has to be first identified and stopped

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