Tripura Minister bats for curbs on social media

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, November 29, 2024

Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Friday advocated for curbs on social media for national interest citing that liberties without reasonable restrictions often lead to fatal consequences. Citing an example, the Minister said, “When I am driving a car, I should be very careful about my speed. Because over-speeding can lead to fatal accidents, the person driving the car may die, otherwise it might become a burden on the family members for the rest of his or her life. In my personal opinion, social media took our freedom of expression to a new height and we ended up over exercising our rights. So, reasonable restriction on the use of social media is a must at a time it has become an integral part of our day-to-day life.

” Stating that social media is causing mental anxiety, depression in some developed countries, Chowdhury said, “Even many of the European countries are now divided on the use of social media. Studies have discovered that mental anxiety, depression and some other mental problems are emerging as the evil impact of social media use.” According to the Minister, social media is also taking human relations to an artificial level.

The Minister was speaking at the inaugural session of the Debate 2024 organised by Advocate Dilip Sarkar memorial foundation. Speaking on the occasion, Tripura High Court Judge Justice Arindam Lodh said, “Although social media is being seen as a medium of communication, we often see it is being used as a tool to incite trouble and violence. This is why this debate should be considered time and relevant.” Among the others, Chairperson of Tripura Human Right Commission retired justice SC Das spoke on the occasion. Eminent speakers like Author Chandril Bhattacharjee, RJ Agnijit Sen, Dr Basab Ghosh, professor Sayak Mukherjee, Advocate Rajashree Purakayastha, Nabarun Ghosh and Dr Ripan Bhattacharjee, professor NLU Tripura participated in the thought provoking debate show while Dr Kunal Sarkar played the role moderator.