Aware Of Growing Risks Of Big Tech Dominance On Internet, Deploying "Tools And Capabilities" To Deal With Same: Govt

The Centre on Wednesday (1 December) told the Parliament that it was deploying "tools and capabilities" to deal with the growing risks of dominance of various big tech platforms including Google and Facebook on the internet.

"Government is aware of the growing risks of dominance of various big tech platforms on the Internet and is deploying tools and capabilities to deal with the same including actively working with social media intermediaries," Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Lok Sabha.

Tharoor had asked the ministry about the concerns that the government may have about the market power and dominance of platforms such as Google and Facebook.

On the question of whether the ministry has taken the cognisance of the new media law passed by the Australia earlier this year, the minister said, "It is informed that the Australian Parliament had in February 2021 enacted a law, called the “News Media and Digital Platform Mandatory Bargaining Code”, requiring global digital companies to pay for local news contents".

Reply to Tharoor's question regarding implementation of similar law in India, the minister said, "Presently, there is no proposal forenactment of a law by this Ministry in this regard".