Are social media platforms arbiters of truth?

In the midst of the massive protests that have erupted in the U.S., social media platform Twitter decided to do something it had avoided for several years: call out some of President Donald Trump's tweets as being incorrect information and as being against its policies. This prompted Mr. Trump to warn social media platforms of stricter controls via an Executive Order. It also prompted another social media giant, Facebook, to state that they did not want to take similar action since they did not want to be 'arbiters of truth'. These developments bring into focus the level of involvement the social media giants have in the dissemination of the public discourse and raises questions on how these platforms should behave. Guests: Mishi Choudhary, Legal Director of the Software Freedom Law Centre in New York; and Rishab Bailey, Legal Consultant for Technology Policy at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. Host: P.J. George, Deputy Internet Editor, The Hindu Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at [email protected]