Congress flags Ghaziabad girls' suicide in Parliament, seeks social media policy
India Today
Citing the suicide of three sisters in Ghaziabad over Korean cultural influence, the Congress said social media has become the most influential medium today and urged the Centre to formulate a comprehensive social media policy.
The Congress on Friday urged the Centre to formulate a comprehensive social media policy, flagging the unchecked spread of misinformation, falsehoods and online threats, with little accountability for those responsible.
Citing the recent death of three girls in Ghaziabad, who jumped to their deaths over their alleged obsession with Korean culture, Congress MP Rajiv Shukla, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said social media had become the most influential medium of the present time.
“The situation today is that on social media, anyone can write anything, accuse anyone, tarnish someone’s reputation in a single post, and once it goes viral, retracting that lie becomes nearly impossible. Neither do social media platforms take responsibility, nor does the person who wrote it come forward,” the MP told the Upper House.
Specifically on the Ghaziabad sisters’ deaths, Shukla said reports suggest that social media content and rumours had adversely affected their mental state.
“We are living in an era where there are laws regulating weapons and poison, but no concrete accountability has been fixed for those spreading lies on social media. I urge the government to bring a clear policy on this subject -- one that protects freedom of expression while also ensuring accountability for those spreading misinformation,” he said.
Elaborating further, Shukla asserted that social media is no longer merely a platform for entertainment but has emerged as “the most influential medium for shaping public opinion”.
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