Laws should be strict… Issue of obscenity on social media raised in Lok Sabha, know what Ashwini Vaishnav said

New Delhi: There is a big allegation regarding the content coming on social media that obscenity is rapidly making its place in the society. The government has also taken notice of this. The government said that there is a need to tighten the existing laws to curb obscene content on social media. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said this in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. In response to a question in the House, he/she said that earlier there used to be editorial monitoring in traditional media, where it was seen whether something was right or wrong, but now in the era of social media, this system is completely missing.

‘Platform of uncontrolled expression’

Responding to a question by BJP MP Arun Govil, Vaishnav said that democratic institutions and traditional forms of press were once dependent on editorial scrutiny for accountability and accuracy of content. Now we are living in the era of social media and OTT platforms. Where these investigations are being seen decreasing with time. In the absence of such editorial monitoring, on the one hand, social media has become a platform for freedom of the press, on the other hand, it has also become a platform for uncontrolled expression, which often includes obscene content.

‘Our culture is different’

Vaishnav argued that the cultural sensitivities of India are very different from the regions where these platforms were created. There is a need to make the existing laws more stringent for India. he/she also urged everyone to reach a consensus in this matter. The Minister urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Related Affairs to take up this important issue as a priority and said that there should be social consensus on it. Also, there should be strict laws to deal with this challenge.