Regulatory Leap: Why India must lead the Web 3.0 policy narrative

India should participate in setting a global Web 3.0 policy framework. We can’t afford any digital colonialism or authoritarianism

The content creators will have power over their content, and not the platforms as they do have at present.

By Srinath Sridharan

Web 3.0 is being shaped by the global developer community on the ideology of the decentralisation of internet. At least technically, with Web 3.0, the BigTech platforms can be disintermediated and might have decreased power over the outcomes. If we have BigTech currently, Web 3.0 would see more of DeepTech. The content creators will have power over their content, and not the platforms as they do have at present.

Between the 1970s-2000s, internet technology and allied businesses were largely dominated by companies from the developed nations. India then did not have the requisite policy muscle or the consumption heft to be involved in the development of policy development on internet governance and the global internet ‘platform-isation’ possibilities. We have come a long way from being body-shoppers to being a country with vibrant entrepreneurial energy and ideas chased by execution-capital.

With commercial applications still evolving, the current consumer and policy conversations around artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), internet of things (IoT), augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) technologies, battery technology seem vague, confused, and in a state of disbelief about the actual potential and the impact they could have on the societal norms. The worries about singularity, the point at which technological growth will become irreversible and uncontrollable, and make serious changes to human civilisation, must be respected and factored into any regulatory thinking as we chug ahead.

The governments always have social-governance concerns, as well as the fears of ‘losing control’. The policy worries are diverse. Will any of the Web 3.0 impair state control on regulating those entities? Will decentralising make it onerous for the State to regulate the internet? Will any of these technologies bring challenges of national security or cause any systemic issues? Will they further complicate consumer-protection issues and cyber-risk problems? Can any of the technologies be weaponised against any other state or cohort?

Policy formation for the 21st-century internet will not only be about technology or consumerism, but also about the concept of global strategic affairs. Nations will have to leverage digital for their growth, yet face the onslaught of faceless actors trying to hurt the very same growth. However, the policy-makers won’t have the chance to ponder much, as the global development of Web 3.0 products and solutions is moving with great speed.

Over the past few years, India has used technology in shaping its domestic socio-economic development. This technology has brought in greater inclusion and impactful societal outcomes. Be it Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, UPI, CoWin for vaccination, or the Digital Health Mission, India has built low-cost, high-impact tech-for-better-life innovation.

It is essential that India uses this opportunity to decide on the technologies it wants to use for social good. This is also where India should initiate global conversations, and participate in setting Web 3.0 standards and policy framework for its regulations. But, policy from only a ‘control’ perspective might just push the technologies into the ‘dark-web’, or even drive young entrepreneurs to other global markets, like what is being seen currently with the crypto confusion. The idea of NFTs brings to the fore the regulatory concerns on defining ‘marketplace’, indentification and taxation of the seller and buyer, IP issues and acceptance in the market where the buyer is located, treating these as financial assets and related securities laws, money laundering, gambling laws and, in the case of geo-political economic sanctions, treatment of such assets.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/regulatory-leap-why-india-must-lead-the-web-3-0-policy-narrative/2515657/