THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 29 APRIL 2019 (The case against Chinese apps eyeing Indian smartphones (Live Mint)

The case against Chinese apps eyeing Indian smartphones (Live Mint)

Mains Paper 3 : Polity
Prelims level : Right to Privacy
Mains level : Right to privacy on the e-technologies

Context

• The Madras High Court’s decision to revoke the ban on TikTok, a video sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance, which has over 120 million monthly-active users in India.
• India should not block any social media platform, and certainly not because you can access pornography on it.
• So, the judiciary’s initial decision banning the app in response to a public interest litigation against TikTok was troubling.
• The ban was an abridgement of freedom of expression and a restriction on free media.
• It is just as well that the high court revoked the ban, albeit after extracting a commitment from ByteDance that it would take measures against pornography.

From China’s angle

• If free speech suggests we shouldn’t ban TikTok, free trade suggests otherwise.
• There is a case to restrict Chinese apps from the Indian market.
• The Communist Party of China might have erected the Great Firewall to prevent Chinese people from getting ideas about liberty, freedom and democracy, but it has also become an economic barrier that shields Chinese companies from competition, permits them to steal intellectual property and creates an uneven playing field for foreign companies operating there.
• Beijing has used its power to dictate who and what is allowed to keep out global giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter.
• This allowed home-grown clones, such as Baidu, Tencent and Weibo, to first dominate China’s domestic market before stepping out into foreign markets. China’s internet and technology firms enjoy a massive home advantage that their Western and Indian competitors do not.

Indians ownership

• Most of the platforms China blocks—Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud, for instance might not be owned by Indian companies, but are heavily used by Indian content creators.
• This means everyone from India’s biggest media companies to millions of individual You- Tubers, bloggers and Twitterati are practically denied access to the Chinese market.
• The argument that “you can always use the Chinese equivalents if you want to reach the Chinese market" doesn’t diminish the fact that Beijing’s restrictions and the Great Firewall are non-tariff barriers.

Decisions can be taken

• India can ban TikTok without losing much. Users have quite a few alternatives.
• On the other hand, ByteDance, by its own admission, loses $500,000 every day if it is not available in India.
• New Delhi must not fritter away the leverage.
• It should create a list of countries that do not provide our technology firms and content creators a level playing field, and then calibrate counter-measures in proportion to the level of discrimination.
• China is sure to figure on such a list. Beijing can hardly complain as long as it maintains its massive internet censorship and protectionist regime (and, incidentally, is closing down thousands of apps that promote pornography and other undesirable content).

Way forward

• Chinese internet firms access to the Indian market will not persuade Beijing to bring down its Great Firewall.
• It will, nevertheless, serve as a global signal and strengthen New Delhi’s negotiating positions vis-a-vis Beijing.
• Moreover, in a plausible future where cyberspace is divided into two or three spheres of influence, restricting the market share of Chinese platforms will reduce the risk of being locked into them.
• It is abundantly clear that Beijing, along with Moscow, intends to supplant the citizen-empowering liberal values that the internet has helped spread so far.
• If they have their way, they want cyberspace to serve as an instrument of the authoritarian state. This contest will intensify over the coming decade.
• India’s national values put us firmly on the side of liberty, and we shouldn’t let the hangover of our 20th century mindset deter us from aligning with the West.
• It is now up to the government to evolve a strategic response to China in the technology and information domain.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) The term 'Prompt Corrective Action' often seen in news, refers to:
(a) adopting innovative construction technologies for building affordable house at rapid rate.
(b) improving financial and socio-economic status of old age artisans and scholars.
(c) transforming and expanding Indian firms into Multi-National companies.
(d) taking corrective actions on banks in order to restore their financial health.

Answer: D

Mains Questions:
Q.1)To what extent Chinese apps is safe for Indians privacy concern. Comment.