Government’s plan to change IT rules for social media and other platforms is a “blunt and disproportionate” fix to the problem of harmful online content and would lead to over-censorship, technology firm Mozilla has warned.
Mozilla, the not-for-profit entity behind web browser Firefox, which has been advocating data protection and privacy rights, has also argued that automated and machine-learning solutions should not be encouraged as a silver bullet to fight against harmful content on the internet. It has also asserted that any regulatory intervention to this “complex issue” must be preceded by a wide ranging and participatory discussion process.
“MeitY’s (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) proposals turn online companies into censors and undermine encryption,” Mozilla said in a statement on Thursday. The comments come after the government last month disclosed plans to amend the IT rules wherein social media platforms and messaging apps will be required to deploy tools to “identify” and curb unlawful content as well as follow stricter due diligence practices.
Some experts have cautioned that the planned amendments, that also mandate traceability of “unlawful content”, could invade personal privacy and free speech. “The new rules proposed by MeitY are blunt and disproportionate solutions to the problem of harmful content online,” Mozilla said.
Commenting on the issue, Amba Kak, Mozilla’s public policy advisor noted that “whittling down intermediary liability protection and undermining end-to-end encryption are blunt and disproportionate tools that fail to strike the right balance”.