Regulating Dominant Platforms: Challenges and Opportunities of Content Moderation on Jio Platforms

Abstract

Indian multinational technology company, Jio Platforms with an active subscriber base of 467.6 million (February 2024, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data) continues to lead the market in India. Digitisation has transformed India’s governance model as deep penetration of telecom and the internet in India has laid the foundation for a digital economy. This article examines the role of self-regulation mechanisms and censorship in India’s dominant platform company Jio Platforms which contributes significantly to changing the paradigm of digital governance, thereby making services seamless, and easily accessible and improving the ease of living and doing business. Facebook’s investment in Jio for a 9.99 percent stake makes it the largest investment for a minority stake by a tech company anywhere in the world. With Jio Platforms and Facebook parent Meta Platforms rolling out a grocery delivery app using Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service, the transnational ties are deepening and expanding, making it imperative to examine the role of self-regulation and censorship in a market that is open, diverse and the largest in a democratic governance structure. This article will examine the key concerns of data sharing and privacy, especially when the central plank of government policy is digitisation. With stricter government regulations for foreign players in the market, there is a distinct focus of the government on boosting Indian companies to capture and control the market. Data collated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) show India’s overall internet user base grew to around 936.16 million in 2023. Such a diverse and vibrant open market calls for effective regulations and restrictions on privacy, algorithms, deceptive practices, antitrust, financing, and governance. This article aims to investigate the challenges of regulating dominant platforms. It delves deep into understanding and analysing the challenges and opportunities that evolve in regulating Jio Platforms. The study will also inquire whether favourable government policies and national legislation boost the processes of digitisation and whether there is a need for a new regulatory framework laid by the government for platforms to abide by. India has an open market dominated by US multinational firms, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Content removal and other online censorship efforts are topics of heated debate, in academia and policy circles. This makes it arduous to ensure that data protection and privacy are safeguarded, particularly by dominant platforms such as Jio Platforms which is almost monopolising the Indian market.