Does India need Social Media reforms?

Recently I have come across the fact that Norway will be making amendments to its law and will make it illegal to post altered images without declaring them. Norway believes social media sites can have a detrimental effect on youth if not controlled. The step is taken amidst the current environment of social media causing unrealistic beauty standards and low-esteem in many. It is a much-required and bold move from Norway.

This brings us to the debate that with the coming age of dominant technology around us, which although helps us in connecting with people, expression of thoughts and sharpening our knowledge, often makes us judgemental about our looks/body type/perfect relationship definition and define success & popularity on basis of the number of followers/likes or shares. It hangs heavy on the minds of teenagers, women, and young girls and their bodies to define who they are. A heavy factor in this problem are video platforms like TikTok, Instagram, which run only on influential algorithms and show the content, they find you noticing more. A study conducted by Fortis showed that?89% of women reported feeling uncomfortable about their own selves when they read comments on social media about other people’s appearances.

Another emerging research is evidence of such social networking behavior is contributing to the rise of “body dysmorphic disorders BDD” and “eating disorders” in females as well as males. (Source HindustanTimes)

Taking these problems and Norway's reforms into account a question arises does India need a similar law and reforms for these social media platforms.

Moreover, 95% of content creators don't even realize that they are body shaming people with their content. Social media and influence over youth go hand in hand just like Batman and Robin. If constructively used it can help in breaking ages-old mental shackles and if otherwise, it can create a mental block for the "ideal lifestyle".

It becomes of superior importance in the case of India as it has the highest youth population in the world and needs special attention since it is far more likely to get affected which may not have a desirable impact on youth. With 448 million active users (approximately 46.44% of the total population) and knowing that it's not fading or going out of trend anytime soon, our policymakers need to come up with stabilizing steps keeping in mind the mental health of such a substantial part of the population.

Micro and Nano influencers on social media make up for?40 percent of the ?1,200-crore online influencer market in India. With trust-inducing content and being an economically viable option, small and medium-scale industries are shifting towards nano influencers to promote their products online.

The influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022, compared to $8 billion in 2019, according to?Business Insider Intelligence?estimates.

The influencers' industry holds the key to altering the decision-making of 448 million people in India. With great power comes great responsibility. India has recently made amendments in the Information and Technology Act to bring these social media platforms under the ambit of government supervision.

Although the new IT laws reflect the effort from the part of the government, following in the steps of the Indian society, where mental health is often overlooked, these laws curb fake news and violent content but leave the detrimental effect that social media has on the youth still in the dark.

With 50% of Indians being young and socially active we need to put a check on the content and discuss repercussions if it sets wrong expectations among its users. For instance, if a beauty influencer as a part of their 'declared paid campaign', posts edited or modified pictures to heighten their appearance and promote it as the result of a beauty product it must be clearly mentioned lest the trust factor between the influencer and follower gets invoked.

An industry with such social and fiscal penetration needs to come under central administration and certain laws and guidelines must be introduced to keep the industry in check. The laws need to be framed keeping in mind the sentiments of the industry. The government will also need to work along with social media platforms for the successful implementation of the policies.