| INDIA LEGAL |July 22, 2019 39ensures that the abuse is detected and
eliminated within a short time. This
could mean use of moderation for posts
based on artificial intelligence and man-
ual filtering, along with quick removal
of objectionable content based on post-
publication feedback.
The government may mandate the
platform owners to introduce an “objec-
tionable/inappropriate content” tag to
every video so that the public red-flags
them. Following a certain minimum
number of such objections, the video
may be removed after a manual verifica-
tion. Repeated posting of such content
should lead to blacklisting the offenders.
The government may penalise TikTok
if it is found that it is encouraging some
of the abusive behaviour through pro-
motional efforts.
The government may also examine and
bring about a larger regulation that can
address the impact of internet-based
services (of which TikTok is one) on the
social behaviour of vulnerable sections
of society (which may include children
or some adults who are irrational in
their behavioural response).
Mandating responsibility for filtering
the messages is well within the current
interpretation of “due diligence” under
Section 79 of the Information Tech -
nology Act, 2000 (ITA 2000), and does
not require any change of
the law. A simple guide-
line on the lines of what
was earlier issued to cyber
cafes, matrimonial web-
sites, etc., would suffice to
provide clarity. It can be
applied to not only
TikTok, but other gaming
apps as well.
A “controller for game
applications on the inter-
net/mobiles” can be desig-
nated as a specific regulator from within
the ministry of electronics and informa-
tion technology to focus on the issue.
Under the proposed Personal Data
Protection Act, 2012, some of these
game administrators can be considered
as “guardian fiduciary” and will auto-
matically be required to register them-
selves and be governed by the Data
Prot ection Authority.W
hile discussing the amend-
ments to the intermediary
guidelines that the govern-
ment proposed in December 2018,
which were stalled by the opposition, a
“self-regulatory framework” was sug-
gested by the author, titled “Inter -
mediary Dispute Management System”.
It can be considered for tackling this
issue where it is necessary to balance
freedom of creative expression with the
perceived risks of adverse impact on sec-
tions of the society.
From the legal standpoint, the Sup -
reme Court judgment on Section 66A
(Shreya Singhal Case) would pose a hur-
dle as this judgment advocated that a
certain level of freedom of expression is
to be tolerated on the social media plat-
form, despite alleged defamation, threat,
annoyance, and so on.
A larger issue, how ever, is that thisproblem, along with some dangerously
addictive and harmful games such as
Blue Whale and PUBG, is a social prob-
lem more than a legal one. The internet
is a medium of communication and
there will be many games and apps
which will be created and published for
different reasons. Some of these will be
created by deviant minds who enjoy oth-
ers being harmed.
At the same time, there will be some
people in society who get attracted and
addicted to harmful habits just like
people taking to smoking and drinking.
The law can only discourage malicious
inducers to a crime by punishing them.
But preventing the misuse of a platform
such as TikTok where some post violent
and pornographic content cannot be
effectively addressed by law. It is the
responsibility of society, and more par-
ticularly schools, teachers and parents,
to advise children not to be victims of
harmful addictions on the mobile.
As regards the adventurism of adults
that may cause damage, education can
help to a certain extent and punishment
to a little higher extent, but the problem
has to be lived with. Early detection of
such symptoms should lead to coun-
selling sessions with the appropriate
experts. This could result in a reduction
of the adverse impact of not only TikTok
but other similar threats that loom over
the internet.
It would be worth watching if the
Supreme Court, Madras High Court or a
likely committee of experts comes up
with suggestions in this regard.
The government can also try to
encourage NGOs who are dedicated to
such causes by offering incentives so
that they take effective action to reduce
the dangers posed by TikTok and other
such apps.—The writer is a cyber law and
techno-legal information security
consultant based in BengaluruTwitter: @indialegalmedia
Website: http://www.indialegallive.com
Contact: [email protected]TIKTOK ADDICTION
(L-R) A youth in Tumkur,
Karnataka, succumbed to his
injuries while doing a back flip
for a video; grabs of funny
videos posted on TikTok