In Mythology, there was a powerful King named Trishanku who wanted to perform a ritual to go to heaven while he was alive. He approached his Guru Vashistha who replied, "It is a law that no living person can go to heaven. Go and do good deeds and you will go to heaven when you die." Disappointed, Trishanku requested Vashistha's sons to help him. They got angry and cursed him to become old. Persistent Old Trishanku went to the great sage Vishwamitra, for help. Vishwamitra promised to fulfill his wish. Vishwamitra performed a big Yajna; he chanted mantras and made offerings to gods. But the gods did not want anyone to break a law; they did not accept the offerings. Vishwamitra was furious and said, "I will send you to heaven by my own powers. “ Rise Trishanku" As he said this, Trishanku began to rise and reached the gates of heaven. The gods stopped him and said, "You can't come to heaven alive. Fall back to earth." Trishanku started falling back. Vishwamitra said, "Don't fall! Stay!" And Trishanku hung between heaven and earth. Then Vishwamitra decided to create another heaven for Trishanku." He created the parallel universe and as he was going to create another Indra, the gods stopped him. By this time, Vishwamitra had lost all his powers as a sage. He agreed to stop but said, "I have to keep my promise. Trishanku will live in the universe." The gods agreed but declared that Trishanku would live in his heaven upside down. After this, Vishwamitra had to start his prayers again to attain the status of a Brahmarshi which was his lifelong dream.
This story has a modern similarity: The social
media companies headed by the likes of Zuckerbergs and Dorseys are the modern
Vishwamitras who have tried to create a virtual world with their own set of
rules transcending the rules set by nations around the world. We the people
have remained hung upside down like Trishanku hung between the real and
virtual. While modern Vishwamitras have taken on governments around the world,
it’s to be seen if they will remain still remain powerful after the showdown or
lose their powers. They should rather focus on their lifelong mission of
creating value for their companies rather than catering to their own egos like
Vishwamitra.
Many of us have seen The Social Dilemma the
documentary on how big tech is influencing individual and collective lives.
Many in the IT industry have known for decades about the intrusive capabilities
of web technologies to expose digital footprints and the commercial impact
through search engine algorithms. The Intellectual property issues on news and
other content have been litigated across worldwide courts and
tribunals. But the opinion-making and politically intrusive features
of social media are where these modern Vishwamitras have taken on modern
Governments. The rules of the land made by a democratically elected government
in India have been made to look like tyrannical oppression against freedom of expression.
But India should not budge against tech giants taking a cue from democratic
governments over the world.
Facebook
is fighting litigation in European Union. EU has a rule called the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) which is the toughest law in the world which enhances how people can access information about them and places
limits on what organizations can do with personal data. Facebook’s business model is
selling comprehensive user profiles to advertisers. If the social media giant
is unable to combine user data from across its platforms like FB, Instagram,
and Whatsapp, as well as third parties, its ability to create comprehensive
profiles, will be hampered. The European Union hit Google with a record
antitrust fine for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating
system. Google has unfairly promoted its own services by forcing smartphone
makers to pre-install Google apps Chrome and Search in a bundle with its app
store, Play. Australia has passed a world-first law aimed
at making Google and Facebook pay for news content on their platforms. As
retaliation Facebook blocked all news content to Australians over the row.
Facebook agreed to reverse its decision after robust negotiations with the
government, which led to changes to the law to address some of their concerns.
In the
US, the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and
Google testified before Congress in 2020 over concerns they engaged
in anticompetitive practices — and I remember IITian Google
CEO grilled like what our IIT professors used to during viva-voce
exams. After that Justice Department has filed a landmark antitrust suit
against Google, one that's expected to impact the tech industry. States
within the US are passing or contemplating laws that can impact tech giants. Maryland
State is trying to impose new taxes on rich tech companies for all ads viewed
in their state on Facebook and Google. Indiana and Connecticut are considering
taxes to help fund rural broadband or online bullying prevention. New York had proposed reforming its antitrust law to make it easier
to sue tech companies. A bill introduced in Florida can prohibit companies
from suspending the accounts of political candidates.
We know that these platforms
have no unrestricted reach in many autocratic parts of the world like China,
Russia, etc. They are submissive to these regimes conveniently. Twitter has
remained largely silent on China other than voicing its sadness at not being
able to access the country. Twitter was caught in a controversy after
deactivating the accounts of over a hundred Chinese political commentators days
before the anniversary of the Tiananmen protests. Twitter apologized for
the event, claiming it was an error in their programs. No one believed.
So while these modern-day Vishwamitras are creating an independent
universe with its own set of rules, we the people should not get influenced by
their egos and believe that our freedom of speech is at stake. Like Trishanku
we have already complicated balance of our lives due to social media and should
not allow them to break the laws of our land.
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