Entities Like Facebook Have To Remain Accountable To Those Who Entrust Them With Such Power: Supreme Court

Observing that digital platforms like Facebook have become power centres with ability to influence opinions, the Supreme Court on Thursday said they must be accountable, adding it is difficult to accept the "simplistic approach" adopted by Facebook that it is merely a platform posting third party information and has no role in generating, controlling or modulating that matter. Further observing that the national capital can ill-afford any repetition of the riots witnessed last year, the Supreme Court stressed that ''unity in diversity'' of India cannot be disrupted and the role of Facebook in this context must be looked into by the powers that be. "This (unity in diversity) cannot be disrupted at any cost or under any professed freedom by a giant like Facebook claiming ignorance or lack of any pivotal role," the court said, and dismissed the plea filed by Facebook India Vice President and MD Ajit Mohan and others challenging the summons issued by the Delhi Assembly's Peace and Harmony committee for failing to appear before it as witness in connection with last year's north-east Delhi riots that left 53 people dead and 200 injured. Upholding the Delhi Assembly's right to summon, the Supreme Court said while Facebook has played a crucial role in enabling free speech by providing a voice to voiceless and a means to escape state censorship, it cannot lose sight of the fact that it has simultaneously become a "platform for disruptive messages, voices, and ideologies".