Regulation of the Fediverse: The Multiverse of Social Media

Abstract

The Government of India has been persistent in its efforts to regulate big tech companies. In February 2021, it issued regulations imposing various obligations on social media, the use of which is of particular concern to the government, for a multitude of reasons. However, social media is constantly evolving. Mark Zuckerberg recently explained his vision for the future of social media with the change of Facebook's name to Meta -- a virtual reality 'metaverse'. While this metaverse is little more than a concept currently, there already exists something with a similar moniker - the ‘Fediverse,’ formed from a collection of Federated Social Networks, an overlooked type of social media that gives its users the right to exercise choice and protect their privacy by decentralising social media. The recent push by the European Union for interoperability and community-led platforms, both core features of Federated Social Networks, makes the Fediverse an important topic of discussion, as a possible representation of the future of social media. This is especially true given how its unique features present several difficulties in relation to its regulation. This paper intends to analyse the applicability of the current laws to this overlooked type of social media. First, it explains what a federated social network is and how it works. Second, it explains the laws which could conceivably be applied to them and the difficulty in enforcing those laws. On a concluding note, it moots the question of whether federated social networks should be regulated at all and if so, how?