https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Social Media Platforms Won’t Crack Whip On Users, Feels IPS Rema Rajeshwari

Warning against predatory tactics of international social media sites, she wants them to comply with Indian Laws.
Indian Masterminds Stories

In times when its difficult to differentiate between information and misinformation, the administration, especially the police, have a challenging task at hand. The first lady IPS officer from Kerala’s Munnar, Rema Rajeshwari, says Artificial Intelligence (AI) alone cannot stop this menace of big social media companies. All stake holders need to come together and put in place a collective social responsibility.

ADVERTISEMENT

Participating in a virtually-organised discussion on Social Media Rumours, Misinformation and Disinformation in COVID-19, she said “It’s time for us to liberate human attention from the clutches of intelligent persuasions of the Big Tech.”

Rema Rajeshwari, is presently Police Chief of Mahabubnagar district in Telangana. She is a fierce proponent of women rights and has been running many a programme for women’s safety and security.

Lamented the fact that misinformation or disinformation has even taken many lives during the ongoing pandemic and how people believe in conspiracy theories regardless of their educational background, Ms Rajeshwari stressed, “there is not much difference between reaction of rural and urban people. However, rural people are more receptive to the authorities, particularly police officers, when they reach out to the communities. They give us a patient hearing and, so, it’s easy for us to impart digital literacy.”

ADVERTISEMENT
Ms. Rajeshwari along with the other panelists of the meeting

In the urban segment, she finds a certain amount of confirmation bias. “This bias holds people back from taking even reputed news agencies and institutions at face value.” She admits, though, that it is not easy to address confirmation biases, as “people believe what they want to believe.”

According to her, India’s unique socio-cultural fabric has given rise to a different kind of bias that runs along racial, religious and communal lines”. Addressing it is a challenging task and, she feels, we were late in pushing the start button.

She explained: “The so-called intelligent persuasion of the human mind by machine was seen as one of the greatest achievements by mankind at the beginning of technological revolution. But, instead, we are looking at a lot of problems today, and it is too late for us to react. Five years back, we could not imagine that we will be looking at fake news as a law-and-order problem. That a small message or video could drive people to violent action and even kill someone.” She believes.

ADVERTISEMENT

She explained that “she is making this statement because of what’s happening around us, particularly in our country – the big tussle that is going on between the Big Tech and the regulatory authorities. We are staring at a moment in history where big tech enterprises are taking the administration and regulatory agencies for a ride.” However, she was quick to add that, “whatever actions are being taken by the Centre and the state governments to combat this, are commendable.” She is strongly against “allowing enterprises to take a convenient stand, depending on the country they operate in.”

Ms Rajeshwari feels that the anonymity provided by social media to its users is advantageous for those with malicious intentions and is “turning the digital space into a potential ground for criminal activities.”

ADVERTISEMENT

She revealed that she does not have high hopes from the Big Tech, as we live in a digital attention economy and to expect them to address this issue would be a mistake, as their revenue model is dependent on the active users they get. “It would be wishful thinking on our part to expect them to address social media issues, as it would put them out of business,” she concluded.

The discussion was organised by Responsibly Digital in partnership with YuWaah and UNICEF, to commemorate Social Media Day.


Indian Masterminds Stories
Related Stories
NEWS
Abhishek Prakash IAS
Suspended IAS Officer Abhishek Prakash Chargesheeted in Bribery Case
Indian Railways
13 New Divisional Railway Managers Appointed in Indian Railways
Bank_Banking_news
C.S. Setty Appointed as Chairman of Indian Banks' Association
delhi-government-resized
Delhi Govt to Open Jan Aushadhi Kendras in All State-Run Hospitals
IAS Sujatha Karthikeyan
IAS Officer Sujata Karthikeyan, Wife of Ex-IAS & BJD Leader V K Pandian, Takes VRS: Will She Join Politics Next?
IFS Indian Forest Service resized (IFoS)
1,177 Indian Foreign Service Officers Are in India, Government Informs Parliament
Sarada Muraleedharan IAS
Kerala CS Sarada Muraleedharan Responds to Colourist Remarks: ‘Black Can Absorb Anything’
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
CBIC Accepts Voluntary Retirement of Two IRS (C&IT) Officers
Videos
Sajjan Yadav, IAS
The Policy Maker Who Turned India’s Vaccine Story and UPSC Struggles into Bestsellers
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-21 at 14.33
Training The Cops In Mastering The Technology Used By Criminals
IAS Ayush Prasad
This IAS Officer Dreams of Making Jalgaon a $25 Billion Economy in Four Years
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
IAS Amit Kataria
A Leader with a People-Centric Approach
Dr
Shekhar Pathak, The Chronicler, Was One Of The Pioneers Of The Movement Launched By Gaura Devi
Videos
Sajjan Yadav, IAS
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-21 at 14.33
IAS Ayush Prasad
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT