Table of Contents
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.
Supreme Court urges government to oversee online content
- The Supreme Court told the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to make clear rules for user-made online content so that innocent people are protected from content that is obscene, abusive, anti-national, or personally harmful, especially because such material spreads very fast on the internet.
- The court discussed the idea of creating a neutral, independent body—separate from the government and private broadcasters—to check whether content should be allowed before it causes harm, noting that viral posts can seriously affect a person’s reputation and safety.
- Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi pointed out that dangerous user-made content, including adult material, can quickly reach a huge audience before social media platforms even get the chance to remove or control it.
- The judges also talked about how current safeguards—like short “18+” warnings—are not enough. They suggested stronger age-checks, possibly using Aadhaar verification, to stop minors from viewing unfiltered and explicit material online.
- The Chief Justice expressed concern that anyone can open an online channel without any responsibility or checks, even though such platforms can influence lakhs of people.
- The court clarified that the new rules should not harm free speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a). However, restrictions allowed under Article 19(2) can be used when needed, especially to protect victims who suffer because of misused online content.
- Chief Justice Kant said that while expressing disagreement is normal in a democracy, harmful posts that appear suddenly on platforms like YouTube can hurt millions of people who do not have the means to defend themselves or respond quickly.
- Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that before putting any limits on free speech, the government must hold open and transparent public consultations. He also warned that the term “anti-national” is vague and can be misused.
- The Bench noted that current laws only allow a person to complain or file a case after the damage is done. There is no system to prevent harm before harmful content is uploaded, leaving people unprotected until after the post appears.
- The judges said removing harmful posts usually takes around 24 hours, which is too slow for today’s fast-moving social media, where false information can spread worldwide in seconds. They said modern, AI-powered tools must be used to detect such content early.
- Justice Bagchi explained that punishing someone after they upload harmful content is only a “post-occurrence” step. What is needed are preventive steps to stop misinformation before it leads to property damage or risks to people’s lives.
- Senior advocate Amit Sibal, speaking for broadcasters, cautioned that calling the new rules “preventive” may sound like pre-censorship. He suggested calling them “effective” instead. But the court asked how the gap between viral content and response time would be solved.
IMF Assigns ‘C’ Grade to India’s National Accounts Statistics
- In its yearly assessment, the IMF gave India a ‘C’ grade for national accounts data like GDP and GVA, saying there are some weaknesses that make accurate economic monitoring harder. This came right before the government released its Q2 financial year numbers.
- The IMF said that while India’s data is mostly fine in terms of frequency, timeliness, and detail, some important methods need improvement. Because of this, the national accounts sector received an overall ‘C’ grade, while India’s overall data quality was rated ‘B’.
- The IMF noted that India still uses the old 2011–12 base year and relies on wholesale price indices for many calculations because producer price indices are missing. This affects accuracy and shows gaps in the data methods used.
- It also pointed out frequent big differences between GDP calculated from production data and GDP calculated from expenditure data. This suggests that expenditure data and information on the informal sector are not fully captured, leading to criticism and inconsistencies.
- India mainly uses the income approach to estimate GDP by adding up the income of the government, households, and companies. It also provides GDP based on expenditure. But because the sources of data are different, the numbers often do not match.
- The IMF also highlighted that India does not publish seasonally adjusted quarterly data, and some of the methods used to prepare national accounts could be improved, which limits how precisely short-term economic changes can be studied.
- For inflation measured through the CPI, India received a ‘B’ grade—meaning the data is generally good but still has some issues. CPI is released every month with very little delay, but there are concerns about how reliable and relevant the numbers are.
- The IMF said weaknesses in CPI come from its outdated 2011–12 base year, along with an old item basket and old weights, which do not reflect today’s actual spending habits, making the inflation numbers less accurate.
Teacher-BLOs Lack Authority to Determine Voters’ Citizenship, Petitioners Tell SC
- Petitioners told the Supreme Court that the Election Commission’s move to make school teachers working as BLOs decide voters’ citizenship during the special intensive revision (SIR) was unsafe, unreasonable, and not supported by law.
- Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A.M. Singhvi, appearing before Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said that months of hearings had watered down the legal limits that allow special revisions only in small constituencies, not in entire States at the same time.
- Kapil Sibal said that under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, a person only needs to be 18 years old and normally living in the area to register as a voter. Both can be checked easily using Aadhaar without any extra or intrusive steps.
- He said BLOs do not have the legal power to decide a person’s citizenship. Citizenship matters fall under the Home Ministry, and issues of mental incapacity can be decided only by proper courts under the relevant laws.
- He argued that disqualifications come only from laws like the Prevention of Corruption Act or ROPA. Therefore, asking BLOs to judge things they are not trained or authorized to assess is improper.
- Sibal accused the Election Commission of changing the legally prescribed voter-roll revision system by creating new forms and shifting the burden of proving citizenship onto voters—similar to procedures used for identifying foreigners.
- He said this brings back exclusionary practices from before Independence, forcing ordinary people to repeatedly prove their identity even though they already have documents showing age and residence.
- M. Singhvi said the SIR was an unnecessary nationwide exercise built on the fear of a large number of illegal immigrants. Because of this, crores of Indian citizens in many States were being forced again and again to prove their citizenship.
- Singhvi argued that the EC had crossed its authority, saying Article 324 cannot be used for actions outside election management. He questioned whether voters listed in 2024 and 2025 rolls were now being treated as doubtful or temporary.
- Singhvi added that Section 21(3) of ROPA allows special revision only for selected constituencies, not the whole country. Issues about illegal immigrants should be handled only when objections arise, as existing laws already cover such cases.
- The lawyers said that only the Foreigners Act and Citizenship Act can deal with questions of illegal immigration. The Election Commission cannot start mass citizenship checks through administrative instructions or BLO-led verification.
- After hearing many arguments on constitutional, procedural, and jurisdictional issues related to the SIR, the Supreme Court adjourned the matter till December 2 for further discussion.
Important Questions
- Why did the Supreme Court ask the government to make new rules for user-generated online content, especially to control harmful and unsafe posts on social media?
- How did the judges explain the problem of harmful online content spreading too fast before platforms like YouTube or Facebook can remove it?
- Why did the IMF give India a C grade for its national accounts statistics, such as GDP and GVA data used to measure the country’s economy?
- How does using an outdated 2011–12 base year affect India’s economic data and make it less accurate, according to the IMF?
- Why did the petitioners tell the Supreme Court that BLOs (Booth Level Officers), who are mostly schoolteachers, do not have the authority to decide or check a voter’s citizenship during the voter-list revision process?
- How did Kapil Sibal criticize the Election Commission’s nationwide special intensive revision, saying it wrongly forces citizens to repeatedly prove their citizenship?
Important Vocabulary
- Autonomous – independent, not controlled by others.
- Verification – checking or confirming if something is true.
- Misinformation – false information spread to people.
- Takedowns – removal of online posts or videos.
- Granularity – level of detailed information.
- Methodological – related to the methods used for collecting or studying data.
- Discrepancies – differences between two sets of information.
- Precision – accuracy or exactness of data.
- Jurisdiction – legal power or authority to make decisions.
- Disqualifications – conditions that make a person not eligible.
- Enumeration – counting or listing people officially.
- Administrative – related to managing or carrying out official tasks.
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