The record
Written from the 1 report below. Nothing here is unsourced.
- The Delhi High Court has asked the central government to state whether it plans a policy to regulate addiction-causing design features on social media platforms, such as infinite scroll and autoplay.
- The direction came on a public interest litigation filed by law professor Vikas Kathuria seeking an expert committee to examine engagement-maximising design features on social media platforms.
- The Centre's law officer told the court that he had no specific instructions on whether such a policy was being considered.
- The government and some social media platforms have also challenged the maintainability of the petition, citing earlier orders by the Supreme Court and high courts refusing similar petitions.
- The court will hear the matter after three weeks, and the case could shape how India regulates features designed to keep users on social media longer.
What to watch next
- The Centre's response on whether it is contemplating a policy on addictive design features.
- The court's ruling on the maintainability of the petition after three weeks.
- Whether the court orders the constitution of an expert committee on engagement-maximising design features.
Who said what1
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Vikas Kathuria
professor of law and petitioner
1 quote · 1 outlet
“the fulcrum of the issue is not what content social media platforms carry, but how such platforms are architecturally designed to cause addiction through infinite scroll, autoplay, algorithmically curated and personalised feeds, notification systems and variable-reward engagement metrics, such as "likes", to capture, retain and repeatedly re-stimulate the attention of the user.”
In the article
…objection to the maintainability of the petition in view of some orders of the Supreme Court and high courts which refused to entertain petitions on a similar issue. Petitioner Vikas Kathuria, a professor of law, said the fulcrum of the issue is not what content social media platforms carry, but how such platforms are architecturally designed to cause addiction through infinite scroll, autoplay, algorithmically curated and personalised feeds, notification systems and variable-reward engagement metrics, such as "likes", to capture, retain and repeatedly re-stimulate the attention of the user. The plea said the concern assumes significance in the Indian context as statistics reveal that Indian youths aged 18-24 spend more than 120 minutes on an average every day on social media. It has been clinically proven…
Coverage1
All filed from India
Named India · National Commission for Protection of Child Rights · Amit Sharma · Chetan Sharma · Delhi High Court · Harsha Sadhwani · Kartika Sharma · Nitin Wasudeo Sambre · Subhika Joshi · Vikas Kathuria
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