The new social media policy by the Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) government is facing sharp criticism by opposition parties. Under the new social media policy, the U.P. government will pay cash prizes to the influencers who will promote their policies, initiatives, and schemes on social media platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The cash prizes are based on the number of subscribers, followers, and duration of the content. For, X, Instagram, and Facebook the cash prizes are set for Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 4 lakh, Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh. The set cash prizes for the long YouTube videos, YouTube Shorts, and Podcasts are Rs. 8 lakh, Rs. 7 lakh, Rs. 6 lakh, Rs. 4 lakh
Benefits of New Social Media Policy
U.P. government stated that the new policy will increase employment, they have decided to list the agencies and firms to promote the schemes, initiatives, and policies on tweets, videos, reels, and posts. Under this policy, if the influencer is engaged in some anti-social, anti-national, or derogatory reference through its content then the government is authorized to take strict legal action against that influencer.
Opposition Criticize the New Social Media Policy of U.P. Goverment
People from opposition parties stated that no influencer can save the BJP party from defeat in the next assembly elections. Congress criticized this move and stated that this new policy showed the nervousness in the BJP party as social media highly impacted the last Lok Sabha elections.
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Cons of New Social Media Policy
While the government claims that the new social media policy will increase employment, on the other hand, they mentioned that they are going to hire agencies and firms who usually work with already stable influencers and those who are already earning a good amount from social media platforms.
This new policy will also increase the government’s influence on social media, they will soon have the power to manipulate the things on social media.