The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South Global Governance and the UN Response The decision has provoked widespread concern from digital policy advocates and United Nations experts, who warn that weakening fact-checking will exacerbate the global “infodemic” of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech.[11] Without structured verification, vulnerable communities struggle to distinguish credible content from harmful narratives, deepening social divides and undermining trust in public institutions. UN officials have emphasised that digital platforms hold not only commercial interests but also human rights responsibilities. The removal of fact-checking, they argue, constitutes a regression in global efforts to ensure information integrity online.[12] Research indicates that disinformation disproportionately targets and harms marginalised communities, particularly women, ethnic minorities, and lowincome populations.[13] In regions with pre-existing ethnic or religious tensions, unchecked online narratives can escalate into real-world harm, including discrimination and violence.[14] Conclusion: Developing our Digital Commons The privileged, with social, financial and cultural capital, retain the means to shape and steer narratives, while the marginalised are left to defend their realities in increasingly hostile information environments without matching safeguards. 118 Meta’s move away from structured fact-checking represents more than a procedural change and signals a reconfiguration of epistemic authority in the digital public sphere. By replacing independent oversight with crowdsourced moderation, Big Tech recentralises power without any accountability. The privileged, with social, financial and cultural capital, retain the means to shape and steer narratives, while the marginalised are left to defend their realities in increasingly hostile information environments without matching safeguards. In India’s diverse, multilingual context, and the graded ladder of socio-economic hierarchies that shape who has access, agency and autonomy in today’s digital ecosystem, community-centred grassroots initiatives and rural factcheckers programmes illustrate an alternative vision, one in which community trust, local leadership and contextualised knowledge play key roles in countering socio-culturally rooted fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. Yet, these local solutions cannot fully substitute for systemic accountability, When Power Meets Platform as protecting informational equity is a shared responsibility among governments, corporations and civil society, not an onus shifted onto citizens and communities already short of resources, infrastructure and capital. Endnotes: [1] Meta Platforms, “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes,” Meta Newsroom, January 7, 2025. https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes [2] Meta Platforms, “Testing Begins for Community Notes on Facebook, Instagram and Threads,” Meta Newsroom, March 13, 2025. https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/testing-begins-community-notes-facebook-instagram-threads [3] Launched in 2016, the SoochnaPreneur model of digital development is a community-driven, hyperlocal approach designed to bridge the digital divide, particularly in the last mile. Central to the model are local women social entrepreneurs in rural, marginalised, and underserved regions, called SoochnaPreneurs (“Information Entrepreneurs”), who are equipped with digital tools, skills, and infrastructure to enable access to information, literacy, and resources within their communities. The model focuses on training and empowering rural women to become digital entrepreneurs, strengthening a sense of ownership and leadership within the community. https://www.defindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SoochnaPreneur-Model.pdf [4] Name has been changed for the purpose of anonymity. [5] “Meta Ends Fact-Checking on Facebook and Instagram in Favour of Community Notes,” The Verge, January 7, 2025. https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/7/24338062/facebook-instagram-threads-meta-abandon-fact-checking [6] “Deepfakes of Bollywood stars spark worries of AI meddling in India election,” Reuters, April 22, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/deepfakes-bollywood-stars-spark-worries-ai-meddling-india-election-2024-04-22/ [7] “Ending Fact-Checking on Social Media Fuels Hate Speech and Harassment, Experts Warn,” El País, January 10, 2025. https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-01-10/ending-fact-checking-onsocial-media-fuels-hate-speech-and-harassment-experts-warn.html [8] “Ministry of I&B to fight misinformation, fake news with fact-checking chat- When Power Meets Platform These local solutions cannot fully substitute for systemic accountability, as protecting informational equity is a shared responsibility among governments, corporations and civil society, not an onus shifted onto citizens and communities already short of resources, infrastructure and capital. 119