The case for social media to be closely regulated is clear

Are social media firms exceeding their limits? Have creators of the global virtual public square become unaccountable? Or are they being victimized by the powers that be? A debate is raging over Facebook (2.74 billion users), YouTube (2.29 billion), Instagram (1.22 billion) and Twitter (350 million), and it isn’t confined to India. Barring China, where major American social media outlets are banned, pretty much the entire world is caught in a moment of great introspection about the conduct of these all-pervasive companies.

After the hotly-contested decision by Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to suspend the then US president Donald Trump’s accounts in January 2021 on grounds that he was inciting a “violent insurrection”, there was an uproar in right-wing circles over a liberal ideological bias among Big Tech firms.