Q. In the present digital age, social media has revolutionised our way of communication and interaction. However, it has raised several ethical issues and challenges. Describe the key ethical dilemmas in this regard.
UPSC Mains 2025 GS4 Paper
Model Answer:
Social media acts as a democratic equalizer for global connectivity but simultaneously spawns profound ethical dilemmas threatening individual rights and social harmony.
Key Ethical Dilemmas in Social Media
- Free Speech vs. Misinformation: Balancing the fundamental right to expression against the unchecked, viral spread of fake news and propaganda (Deepfakes during elections).
- Privacy vs. Data Monetization: Exploiting personal data for corporate profit without explicit, informed consent, violating digital autonomy (Cambridge Analytica; Puttaswamy judgment).
- Algorithmic Bias vs. Neutrality: Engagement-driven AI architectures intentionally create “echo chambers,” polarizing society and radicalizing vulnerable demographics by prioritizing extreme content.
- Anonymity vs. Accountability: Shielding identities behind fake profiles enables users to perpetrate cyberbullying, trolling, and hate speech without facing moral or legal repercussions.
- Corporate Profit vs. Psychological Well-being: Designing addictive interfaces (doom-scrolling) that degrade mental health, especially among youth, prioritizing commercial screen time over human welfare.
Resolving these dilemmas requires a techno-ethical paradigm, blending civic digital literacy with robust frameworks like India’s IT Rules 2021 and DPDPA 2023 to ensure human-centric digital flourishing.
