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VOOZH | about |
UPSC Issue at a Glance is an initiative by UPSC Essentials aimed at streamlining your UPSC Current Affairs preparation for the prelims and mains examinations by focusing on issues making headlines. This week, we cover the issue of Social Media from a broader perspective. Let’s get started.
The World Happiness Report this year draws attention to social media’s impact, amid growing moves by countries to regulate its use among youth. India is also planning to decentralise a key online content takedown framework and empower multiple ministries and regulators to start sending blocking orders to social media companies. Alongside this, states are also taking various steps. Karnataka has announced a ban on social media use by children under 16 in its latest budget, and Andhra Pradesh is moving to introduce a measure that would prohibit those under 13 from using such services.
This signals growing momentum in India to protect children from the various harms that social media platforms can cause. In this context, it becomes essential to understand social media and the debate around its regulation from a broader perspective.
(Relevance: UPSC Syllabus: Mains Examination General Studies-I, II, III: Effects of globalisation on Indian society, Government policies and interventions, Awareness in the fields of IT. Social media has become a daily habit in our lives. Individuals from various age groups use social media platforms for communication and networking, indicating a growing dependency on these platforms. Thus, knowing about social media and its impact becomes significant.
Additionally, awareness in the field of information technology is mentioned in the UPSC CSE syllabus, and previously UPSC has asked questions on this topic. This topic is also relevant for essay writing and current affairs, making it important for candidates preparing for their personality tests.)
In today’s world, social media has emerged as a powerful force, connecting people on local, national, and international levels like never before due to previous technological advancements. Of the 6.04 billion internet users worldwide, 5.66 billion people – 68.7 per cent of the global population – were social media users as of October 2025, according to a report published by a leading data and business intelligence platform, Statista. This overwhelming presence of social media users begs a rather simple question: What makes social media so deeply embedded in the lives of a significant portion of the world’s population?
There are several ways to approach this question, but a logical and engaging starting point is to examine the benefits that social media offers.
1. Advanced Source of Communication: Social networking sites enable individuals and organizations to share and exchange information at a speed unmatched by traditional promotional or educational methods. For companies and organizations, utilizing social media has become essential for communicating not only with the general public but also with professional communities.
2. Medium for facilitating empowerment: One of the advantages of social media is that it has emerged as a powerful tool for empowerment. It provides a platform for voices that have historically been marginalized, allowing vulnerable sections of society to advocate for their rights, share their stories, and build supportive communities. This is particularly evident in the way social media has boosted movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp.
3. Helping in Good Governance: Social media has transformed the way information is shared among people. As a result, it plays a crucial role in promoting good governance by encouraging citizen participation in decision-making. Citizens can utilize social media to report issues and communicate with the government, thereby holding it accountable. In turn, governments can use social media to engage directly with citizens, businesses, and experts to gather feedback on service delivery, develop programs, and formulate policies.
4. Social media and Democracy: Social media has reduced the gap between citizens and their elected government and politicians, making democracy more participative.
Social media is fundamentally about people and human relationships. Social media’s core operational foundation includes showcasing the diversity of people’s lives, cultures, and lifestyles, modelling and mediating communication and interaction, and facilitating connections that transcend geographical and social boundaries.
Given these functions, and the central role they play in our lives, it’s not surprising that now people’s internet surfing is mostly via social media platforms. This is remarkable for its potential to shape a more informed and receptive global society.
Despite the magnitude of benefits offered by social media, it is often referred to as a double-edged sword due to the negative impact it has on multiple fronts. In this context let’s understand the disadvantages of social media.
1. Challenge of Misinformation: Social media’s widespread reach presents a significant opportunity for enhancing access to information, fostering community engagement, and bridging the gap between ordinary citizens and decision-makers. However, the issue of the spread of misinformation has emerged as the biggest disadvantage of social media.
As per the UNESCO-Ipsos Survey on the impact of Online Disinformation and Hate Speech, 64 per cent of respondents in India held social media feeds as the biggest source of disinformation and fake news. Yet, the survey underlines that 1 in 2 urban Indians (56 per cent) rely on social media feeds as their primary source of news and information.
2. Privacy violations: Concerns around privacy violations on social media hardly require elaboration. Privacy breaches often involve data-mining, data-sharing with third parties, live location tracking, identity theft, and greater exposure to hacking and phishing, with much of it driven by targeted advertising practices.
3. Online abuse: Online abuse presents another area of serious concern that merits urgent attention. While it remains a concern for users in general, women and users from other marginalised identities are invariably at a greater risk of being harassed online.
4. Social media impact on adolescents: The rise of social media has exposed many teenagers worldwide to name-calling, harassment, embarrassment, humiliation, stalking, threats, and even fraud. This has contributed to an increase in mental health issues among teenagers and, in some cases, has led to tragic outcomes.
5. Cyberbullying: A report by cybersecurity firm McAfee Corp informs that as many as 85 per cent of children in India have been victims of cyberbullying. Given the lasting emotional harm caused by cyberbullying, coupled with the tender age of its victims, the world of social media becomes an exceptionally challenging turf for parents.
6. Impact on mental health: Using social media in moderation is not necessarily bad. In fact, it can boost serotonin and other feel-good chemicals in the brain, helping to uplift a person’s mood. However, it becomes problematic when usage turns into a habit. As frequent social media use can alter parts of the brain that are related to emotions and learning. This is significant as the human brain develops a sense of identity and self-worth between the ages of 10 and 19.
There is also a correlation between excessive social media usage and mental disorders like anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, ADHD, paranoia, delusions, suicidal thoughts and self-harm. – Dr Vihan Sanyal, a Psychotherapist.
7. Social Media impact on happiness: The World Happiness Report this year draws attention to social media’s impact, amid growing moves by countries to regulate its use among youth.
Heavy social media use is linked to a significant decline in well-being among young people, with the impact especially severe for teenage girls in English-speaking countries and Western Europe.
The report notes a sharp fall in life satisfaction among those under 25 in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand over the past decade, with prolonged social media use identified as a key factor.
A strong negative correlation exists between excessive social media use and well-being, particularly among adolescent girls.
Young people using social media for less than one hour daily report the highest well-being, higher even than non-users, yet adolescents spend an average of 2.5 hours per day on these platforms.
Platforms driven by algorithmic feeds, influencers, and visual content are most harmful, as they encourage social comparison, while communication-focused platforms are associated with better outcomes.
Thus, It is very important for users to keep a check on the amount of time they spend on social media. They need to recognise the signs of social media addiction and to take necessary steps quickly to ensure they do not become addicted to social media.
The government has taken various initiatives for the effective regulation of social media platforms. Such as, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”).
After extensive consultations with the public and stakeholders, IT rules has been enacted under the authority of section 87(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, thereby superseding the previous Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.
Under it all social media platforms are asked to set up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism, which included appointing a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has also asked these platforms to submit monthly reports on complaints received from users and action taken. A third requirement for instant messaging apps is to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.
Failure to comply with any one of these requirements would take away the indemnity provided to social media intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000
Section 79 says any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform. This protection, the Act says, shall be applicable if the said intermediary does not in any way, initiate the transmission of the message in question, select the receiver of the transmitted message and does not modify any information contained in the transmission.
The protection accorded under Section 79, however, is not granted if the intermediary, despite being informed or notified by the government or its agencies, does not immediately disable access to the material under question. The intermediary must not tamper with any evidence of these messages or content present on its platform, failing which it lose its protection under the Act.
Notably, In April 2023, the amendments granted the government authority to determine what information is considered false. As a result, the government can exercise extensive censorship powers by requiring intermediaries to remove posts that they label as fake or misleading.
New decentralised censorship mechanism
The Indian Express reported Wednesday (March 18) that the Centre may soon allow the ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and Information and Broadcasting to issue content blocking orders to social media platforms under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, 2000, a power currently only available to the IT Ministry.
Currently, there are two parallel content blocking mechanisms in India. One is under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, through which content that violates national security, or threatens India’s foreign policy, is taken down. Various ministries and state governments have nodal officers who gather such content and send it to officials at the IT Ministry, which is the final signing-off agency responsible for issuing the blocking order.
The other mechanism works under Section 79 (3)(b) of the IT Act, under which various ministries have been directly empowered to issue blocking orders to online platforms, most commonly through the Home Ministry-led Sahyog portal.
The changes are being considered at a time when the government is pushing social media companies to take down content quickly. Last month, it brought about a change in law to reduce blocking timelines from 24-36 hours to 2-3 hours.
On March 6, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a ban on social media use for children under the age of 16 years during the state’s annual budget presentation. In parallel, the Andhra Pradesh government announced intentions to introduce measures to restrict social media access for children below the age of 13.
This comes amid the broader discourse surrounding social media bans and the restriction of children’s online access, both globally and in India. Australia set a landmark precedent in 2025 by banning social media use for children under 16. Since then, countries including France, Germany and Indonesia have also expressed plans to ban social media for children, albeit with differing age thresholds. More recently, French President Emmanuel Macron, during his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit, urged India to “join the club” and consider banning social media for children.
To replicate such a ban in India may pose new challenges, including questions on whether it is a state or the Centre that introduces legal measures, as well as the feasibility of a blanket ban on social media access. With law-making power relating to internet and communications governance typically falling under the purview of the Central government under the Union List, it is unclear whether states can, in fact, regulate children’s access to social media through legislation.
Furthermore, fragmented approaches to social media bans can present challenges in applicability and precisely, in the case of non-uniform age thresholds across states. It is also unclear how different states may intend to assign the onus.
It can also be challenging to identify an appropriate age threshold for this purpose, as it can be onerous to ascertain the extent of agency and evolving capacity an individual child may demonstrate. Additionally, online age verification raises several privacy concerns. Moreover, a ban also fails to account for challenges such as shared device usage, a reality in India.
The perils of social media underline the need for a robust, multifaceted, and sensible response framework. In the absence of which, we risk drifting towards a more fragile social order. We are already noticing an exponential rise in relation to serious mental health issues. Any delay in addressing these concerns will only weaken our collective claims of social and emotional well-being.
At the same time, it would be naïve to look at only the concerns and perils associated with social media. After all, social media platforms have been instrumental in shaping social and political consciousness in many parts of the world. Numerous social movements acquired global visibility through social media. This makes it clear that meaningful engagement with social media requires exceptional skills, discernment, and critical awareness. In this context following measures can be taken for the effective regulation and use of social media in India:
Law for combating misinformation issue
There is a need for a comprehensive transparency law that mandates relevant disclosures by social media platforms. Additionally, content moderation and related functions such as standard setting, fact-checking, and de-platforming should be incorporated.
Prioritize mental health
We must also prioritize mental health by closely monitoring the incidence of psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety, while identifying both risk factors and sources of resilience. With respect to teenagers, parents should be very mindful when allowing digital access to their children and discuss healthy use with them.
Ensuring Accountability for Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms play a significant role in the rapid spread of disinformation. Their design choices have contributed to making disinformation widespread and often indistinguishable from verified information. Therefore, it is the responsibility of these platforms to take action against the distribution of disinformation and its misuse.
Ruchika Gupta writes- “We recommend three approaches to the distribution of content that can be adopted by platforms:
(i) Constrain distribution to organic reach (chronological feed);
(ii) take editorial responsibility for amplified content; or
(iii) amplify only credible sources (irrespective of ideological affiliation).
The current approach to misinformation that relies on fact-checking a small subset of content in a vast ocean of unreviewed content is inadequate for the task and needs to be supplemented by a review of content creators itself.”
Prelims
(1) In India, it is legally mandatory for which of the following to report on cyber security incidents? (UPSC CSE 2017)
1. Service providers
2. Data centres
3. Body corporate
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(2) Consider the following statements:
1. Safe harbour clause is prescribed under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000.
2. Safe harbour is legal immunity that online intermediaries enjoy against content posted by users on their platforms.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Mains
1. What are social networking sites and what security implications do these sites present? (UPSC CSE 2013)
2. Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children. (UPSC CSE 2023)
3. Social media is triggering ‘Fear of Missing Out’ amongst the youth, precipitating depression and loneliness. (UPSC CSE 2024)
(Sources: Centre looks to empower more ministries to block social media content, UPSC Issue at a Glance | Social Media, the double-edged sword, Why social media governance demands balancing free speech with accountability, Social media ban for children may be intrusive and hard to enforce)
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