FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN THE DIGITAL AGE: CHALLENGES OF ALGORITHMIC CENSORSHIP AND AI MODERATION

Abstract

Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, which has traditionally been regarded as a key to a democratic government, guarantees freedom of speech. But in the digital environment, such a basic freedom is challenged in different ways. The publicity has moved out of real-life spaces into privately owned online platforms, where content control through the application of artificial intelligence and algorithmic screening mechanisms is rapidly becoming the regulator of information access and the shaper of communicative autonomy. These opaque organisations are increasingly becoming de facto regulators and play an important role in the freedom of expression of the citizens without any democratic accountability.

The primary attention of this paper is the constitutional guarantees on the freedom of speech as provided in Article 19(1)(a) and judicial interpretations that provide a balance between such freedoms and restrictions that can be made by Article 19(2). It identifies concerns over transparency, due process, and the generalizability of constitutional principles to digital participants in the process of analyzing the increasing tensions between the constitutional guarantees and the quasi-regulatory authority of digital intermediaries. The report summarizes key concepts and protections concerning digital governance by conducting a comparative analysis of regulatory efforts in such jurisdictions as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Based on this, it proposes a rights-enhanced government system of the digital world, which puts priority on democratic oversight, procedural fairness, constitutionalism, and technological responsibility. Ultimately, the analysis substantiates a recommendation of the revision of the legal framework that ensures high protection of free expression in a communal field of digital media intermediation.