A Global Comparative Study on Social Media Censorship: Regulating Digital Rights, Privacy and Surveillance

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-426-6_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Social Media; Censorship; Privacy; State Control; Accountability

Abstract

The social media has emerged in the 21^st century as a crucial platform for communication, activism and information dissemination. In recent years, India and the world has grappled with complex issues surrounding social media censorship, striving balance between free speech, accountability of intermediaries and privacy in the digital age. The social media censorship is increasingly shaped by state intervention, corporate policies and judicial oversight, while Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and right to information have often being subjected to be regulated on the grounds of public order, morality and national security. The emerging technologies have amplified individual voices, yet they have also led to concerns over misinformation, hate speech, right to privacy and national security. This paper critically examines the evolving regulatory framework governing censorship on social media and online platforms in India, and other countries, while highlighting the minimal interventions to contemporary state controlled censorship models. Findings, of this research indicate that while moderate regulations is necessary to mitigate often leads to political suppression, economic setbacks and restriction on press freedom. This study concludes for a balanced regulatory framework in India, incorporating international best practices to ensure transparency, accountability and right based approach to social media governance with recommendations for striking an equilibrium between digital censorship and social media governance without undermining democratic values.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Ausaf Ahmad Malik
AU  - Charu Maheshwari
AU  - Abhilash Aggarwal
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/06/06
TI  - A Global Comparative Study on Social Media Censorship: Regulating Digital Rights, Privacy and Surveillance
BT  - Proceedings of the National Seminar on Enhancing Privacy Protection in the Digital Age: Legal Challenges & Innovations (NSEPPDA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 56
EP  - 72
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-426-6_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-426-6_5
ID  - Malik2025
ER  -