Nowadays, social media is part of everyone's life and it's becoming an undetachable part of people's lives. Almost everyone uses it to share their views, opinions, and thoughts; mostly people use it to communicate with each other. There are various platforms available nowadays. Some of the most popular platforms are Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter, and many more.

In this modern electronic era, these social media platforms connect us with people around the world. People are getting more attracted to this. The youth is especially one of the dominant users of social media. Here, they share their views, thoughts, and opinions. The ease of accessing social news, blogs, vlogs, and other content is made possible for users through these social media platforms.

We cannot deny the fact that there are various benefits of social media, but there are also certain areas of concern, such as the privacy of users, their private data, and their private information. Protecting people from fake information that revolves around this platform. One piece of false information posted by an individual can lead to riots, the spread of false rumors, emotional exploitation, and many other things.

With the rapid advancement and development of technology, it has made a new cyber world, but unfortunately, this has led to the inevitable misuse of the technology and gave rise to various cybercrimes. We don't know which post can cause various problems in society. There are many people who are here to spread misinformation to cause riots, emotional damage.

Understanding social media laws in India

"To understand social media laws, we need more than just legal documents; we also need to understand the evolving trends. Trends include the new ways people engage in fraud, how scammers target innocent individuals, and the prevailing narratives. For a comprehensive understanding, we must delve into the depths of the complex legal structure governing this dazzling ecosystem. Mainly, these platforms are MNCs. Therefore, keeping both sides of the coin in mind-the user and the platform-

The Information Technology Act of 2000, also known as ITA 2000, stands as its foundation. Primarily, it deals with matters related to cybercrime and e-commerce. This Act was created to combat cybercrime through legal sanctions for electronic commerce and transactions, addressing fraud in digital or electronic formats and sanctioning various platforms. It also provides recognition to digital signatures and regulates and protects our digital data stored by various platforms, including all online digital transactions.

Another important feature of this Act is its extraterritorial jurisdiction, which extends to foreign states. Various terminologies are also defined in this section-some examples include cyber cafes, computer systems, digital signatures, electronic records, data, asymmetric cryptosystems, etc."

Offenses On Social Media

There are countless kinds of crimes going on social media, and they are getting more and more advanced day by day.

• Cyberstalking: Cyberstalking, as its name says; stalking someone online/internet. It can take the form of emails, text messages, social media posts, and more and is often methodical, deliberate, and persistent. Its punishment and definition is defined in these sections:
  • Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000
  • Section 78 of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
     
• Cyber defamation: It's a publishing post, news, article, on social media which is false and defamatory in nature which harms the reputation of an individual in society. Section 356 of BNS penalizes defamation.
   
• Hacking and fraud: It's a very common activity on the internet and social media to hack and commit fraud. People hack accounts to fulfill various purposes. Hacking is essentially an illegal activity on the internet where one person gains unauthorized access to another person's account.
   
• Impersonating profile: It's creating a fake profile on social media with a fake identity to do any illegal or unjustifiable work. They use these accounts to spread rumors and post objectionable photos which can cause conflicts in society.

Major Social Media Laws And Act

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

• Section 294 of BNS: Addresses the publication and transmission of obscene material, including electronically. The punishment includes imprisonment and fines, with harsher penalties for repeat offenses.
• Section 77 of BNS: Deals with capturing or publishing pictures of private parts or acts of a woman without consent, constituting "voyeurism."
• Section 303 of BNS: Specifically addresses theft related to mobile phones, data, or computer hardware/software.
• Section 78 of BNS: Addresses the offense of stalking in both physical and cyber forms. Imposes imprisonment and fines for monitoring or bothering a woman through physical or electronic means.
• Section 317 of BNS: Applies when an individual receives stolen mobile phones, computers, or data. There is a punishment for even possession of such property, even by third parties.
• Section 318 of BNS: Addresses frauds, including password theft, creation of bogus websites, and cyber frauds. Imposes varying imprisonment and fines based on the gravity of the offense.
• Section 336 of BNS: Deals with offenses like email spoofing and online forgery. Imposes imprisonment, fines, or both. This section also applies when forgery aims to harm a person's reputation.
• Section 356 of BNS: Penalizes defamation, including sending defamatory content through email. Imposes imprisonment and fines.

Information Technology Act, 2000( ITA 2000)

• This act was passed in India in the year 2000

As per the latest news by a renowned paper house, the cybercrime cases increased from 3,693 in 2012 to 65,893 in 2022, recording the highest spike rate.

SOME of it important section are:

• Digital Signature Under IT Act 2000.
  ITA 2000 was introduced under this act in 2000. It was introduced for summiting crucial documents, for preventing their authenticity.

Section 66 of IT Act 2000.
If any does crime/offense under section 45 he/she will be punishable for time up to 3 years and fine of maximum 5 lakhs or both.

Section 66A of the Information Technology Act,
If any person sends offensive or false information through electronic devices on social media this provision makes it punishable.

Section 66A had prescribed three years' imprisonment if a social media message caused "annoyance" or was found "grossly offensive".

Section 67 of the Information Technology Act,
This section states publishing obscene information or pornography or transmission of obscene content in public is liable for imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of Rs. 10,00,000 or both.

Why We Need These laws.
It's an obvious question Why we need these laws for social media. It should be restriction free for everyone so everyone can use it freely . Everyone can speak and write freely.

Answer is quite simple: "Anything left uncontrolled can cause harm and is detrimental."

Rules and regulation ensures that while we enjoy the benefits of social media-like free speech and connectivity-we also mitigate risks.

Nowadays social media plays an indispensable role in our society as well in our life. We derive a wealth of information from here. We communicate with each other, we post many of our photos and search many things. We interact with so many new people. Yet, with this connectivity comes responsibility-to safeguard privacy, curb misinformation, and foster respectful dialogue.

The reasons For Social Media Regulations:
The socio-political environment in India not only calls for but demands stringent laws on social media because of multiple critical issues that affect the society, governance and Individual rights. Governments must, firstly, regulate to combat fake news and misinformation which can instigate violence and abet in causing public disorder. Laws that can prevent such risks are those who can make the platforms answerable for any content which will be hosted in their network.

The second is that privacy reigns paramount. In this era Social Media Like Collecting data of Millions Of Indians Every Day and All they have very personalized Data so Strong law should be There for making our personal info access only to Us.

Third, the elections must be free and fair. Fake news in the era of social media can provoke, mislead people and manipulate public opinion which is illegal to influence votes. Laws can help to ensure fair political advertisements and protect against foreign interference in elections.

Also, we need laws to reduce online harassment, cyberbullying and hate speech against marginalized communities. Well, these rules can help in creating a secure digital ecosystem for the users')?>

Eventually, Indian social media laws are fundamental to achieve equilibrium between freedom of expression and protection of individual rights & societal interests while encouraging responsible usage for the strong democratic nation in its developing and diversifying digital continent.

Conclusion
It's a fact that social media is doing a great job of connecting us to our loved ones, with so many new people in society. But we cannot refuse the fact that social media is the biggest platform where people become victims of cyber attacks, frauds, etc

. "Laws make a balance between freedom of expression with the protection of users' rights, privacy, and safety" Government must ensure these laws are properly implemented in our society. So, people can use these platforms with any concerns. These platforms collect users' personal information for making our experience better, but sometimes they sell to third party applicants to make more and more. They don't worry about privacy, that's why laws should be mandatory for these platforms.

Another thing is that users should also keep in mind. How they are using these platforms, and with whom they are interacting, there should be Collaboration between governments, technology companies, civil society, and users is essential to foster a safe, inclusive, and ethical digital environment.