08/03/2021 - S & T

Please review

KEY POINTS

Lateral Surveillance

·        This form of surveillance, which enables citizens to “watch over” one another is called lateral surveillance.

·        While surveillance of any kind shows an imbalance of power between the person who surveils, and the one under surveillance, lateral surveillance specifically ensures that the imbalance of power no longer exists.

Prevention and applicability in India

·        The C-Plan App in Uttar Pradesh launched for keeping a tab on anti-social elements, is designed to receive inputs from certain identified individuals in villages across the State.

·        These individuals have been given the responsibility to solve local problems such communal tensions or land disputes taking place in their villages through the mobile application.

·        The scope of lateral surveillance was greatly expanded during the pandemic lockdown, both with and without the introduction of technology.

·        Surveillance technologies not only act as a tool for social control but also as a tool for social exclusion.

·        Lateral surveillance thus makes it easier to discriminate between those who conform to the social norms of the majority.

·        The government notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 which intends to expand “due diligence” obligations by intermediaries.

·        This will further create an incentive to take down content and share user data without sufficient due process safeguards, violating the fundamental right to privacy and freedom of expression. 

Could you please let me know how much you would score this answer out of 10 or 15 marks? And please review. Thank you. 

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