The Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has announced yet another decision that will leave a lasting mark on the politics of the state. This is the new ‘UP Digital Media Policy 2024’ which has been cleared by the Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday evening.
Key Features of the Policy
This is a government-centric policy, working for the promotion of government schemes and programs. This policy aims to filter the kind of content that is put out on social media by individuals. Any content that is found to be vulgar, demeaning or anti-national can be reported and harsh measures will be taken against such an individual. The definition for such objectionable content is very loose and has invited criticism from the opposition. The punishments for such acts range from three years imprisonment to life imprisonment.
This is a two-fold policy, serving two objectives; limiting anti-national content while simultaneously promoting nationalistic content. As part of the latter objective, the government will also provide monetary incentive to influencers for promoting government policies. The government may pay up to 8 lakhs to individuals who are willing to participate in this activity on social media platforms like Instagram, X, Facebook and Telegram. The stipend that the influencers earn as part of this policy will be dependent upon the number of their followers and the amount of reach they have. They claim that the policy would create employment and income for the youth
Public Reception of this Policy
There has been a large hue and cry about the new social media policy amongst the public. The opposition as well as many concerned citizens of the country point out that such a policy is a move towards limiting freedom of speech. Citizens would no longer be able to speak against government policies and actions without being subjugated to punishments. Some feel that this is a blatant move of the government spreading its propaganda through rewarding individuals who become partners of the state in performing such an action. Such a policy would significantly harm the people’s right to express dissent towards the governance.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, congratulates the Yogi government on such a move. They hold the opinion that this will create new employment opportunities for the youth and also significantly reduce the misinformation that is prevalent on social media. They say that social media is a growing platform offering a plethora of employment opportunities which must be explored. The new policy only makes such opportunities more accessible to the youth.
All in all, no matter the public opinion, if the policy is implemented, it will surely change the type of content accessible on social media.
