Is there a Desi social media in the making?

Prime Minister Modi on Monday night tweeted that he is contemplating on quitting social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube on this Sunday. Since then, the internet has gone into a frenzy with hastags #NoSir, #NoModiNoTwitter, #NarendraModi trending. The netizens started oozing out their creativity with the content PM Modi has given. Here a few hilarious take on PM Modi's move:

However, speculations are rife that there could be an alternative social media platform in the making. In January 2020, the Financial Express carried a story about the Government Instant Messaging Service (GIMS) – an alternative to WhatsApp. The GIMS is currently under testing and is to be used by government departments for secure official communication. To keep official communications confidential and secure it from hackers, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) that builds websites and provides email service to government departments across India, is developing the GIMS as a unified messaging platform for all government employees. Currently, 17 government organization are participating in the Beta testing. This includes the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, CBI, Navy, Railways among other bodies. States like Gujarat and Odisha are also participating, the Financial Express reported.

With the cyber world posing different threats every day, it become important to have an indigenous version of social media platforms, where the data remains secured in servers located within the country. This has also been India's position with respect to its data policy and has been engaging with Google, Facebook and other entities on these terms.

Social Media on the other hand has become a double edged sword. Though it has revolutionized people to people communications, it has also become a tool for propagating fake news and misinformation causing serious law and order problems. The recent violence in Delhi saw people posting provocative content that instigated violence. In Chennai, during the protests at Washermanpet, fake news spread that an old man died due to police brutality, while the truth was that he died several streets away from the protest site due to natural causes. Also, the current social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter has been primarily responsible for radicalization. Terrorist organizations like ISIS have been using these social media platforms to radicalize Muslim youths in India to carry out attacks. Some have even travelled to Syria and Afghanistan to join ISIS.

It is also alleged that Twitter has been acting with bias towards a group of people subscribing to a particular ideological and political viewpoint. People question the algorithms that is in place in these platforms that seeks to promote a certain narrative by suppressing others. Recently, the tweet of the editor of a 'liberal right of centre' online news portal was taken down citing Twitter standards. Another JNU professor who is known for his views that aren't the views of the anti-establishment brigade was also a victim of Twitter's biasedness. This has been the case in USA as well. Not just PM Modi, American President Donald Trump too took to twitter to express his disappointment about the lobby that constantly targets him on a personal level and also his policies. Coming within hours after PM Modi's tweet, President Trump lashed out at CNN News, New York Times, Washington Post, and others for carrying fake news and resorting to fear mongering and politicizing the corona virus issue in the United States.

It is in this light that one has to see PM Modi taking the lead to teach a lesson or two to these platforms about fair play.