Keep Big Tech in Check

India’s new rules for social media is a sign that New Delhi is hardening its stance toward Big Tech, experts told CNBC.

Internet giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google — collectively known as Big Tech — have accrued billions of users on their digital platforms globally. They’ve invested billions of dollars over the years as they see India, a country with over 600 million internet users, as a crucial growth engine for the future.

“I do believe the Indian government has become less accommodative over the years,” said Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at Tufts University’s The Fletcher School.

To be clear, India is not alone.

Regulators around the world have also ramped up scrutiny on the outsized influence of Silicon Valley’s tech titans. From the United States to Europe and Australia, regulators are tightening the rules to keep Big Tech in check.

From tackling fake news to preventing monopolistic practices, the Indian government has come down hard on Big Tech in recent months.

In February, New Delhi announced sweeping reforms to that would hold social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and others more accountable to legal requests. They would be required to take down content the government deems “unlawful” while messaging service providers would be required to identify original posters of certain messages — but that could mean breaking end-to-end encryption promised to users.

The regulation was introduced days after India rebuked Twitter in early February for not promptly complying with orders to take down certain content the government alleged were spreading misinformation about farmers protesting new agricultural reforms.

Misinformation, which often spreads rapidly through social platforms, is a concern in India. For example, three years ago, a rumor circulated on WhatsApp reportedly got several people killed in India.

Urvashi shared her perspective with CNBC's Saheli Roy Choudhury:

Social networks are shaping India’s civic space but there are no mechanisms in place to hold them accountable for the content on their platforms that are not limited by jurisdictional issues, according to Urvashi Aneja, an associate fellow at Chatham House and a founding director at Tandem Research.

“And so you, as a result of that, perhaps you see some of this current flexing right now, which is certainly excessive, and in the long run, likely to be detrimental to civil liberties,” Aneja told CNBC.

Experts have raised concerns about India’s new social media law, which was introduced and implemented without public consultation.

Some say the rules may potentially undermine some user rights that tech companies provide, such as end-to-end encryption.