Internet in India: Development, Future and Challenges

New media basically refers to the current online media. Online media also requires a basic understanding of the equipment and set-up.

Internet in India: Development

The Internet came to India in the form of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) in -1995. Internet wasn’t and still isn’t controlled by a single organization. Internet and Mobile Association of India also governs internet along with TRAI (Telecom Regulatory authority of India).

After 2000, the internet started growing in India. Blogging and social media sites like Orkut and Facebook started emerging.  Internet emerged as a revolutionary technology converting passive consumers of mass communication into prosumer (producer+ consumer) with the general public creating content as well as consuming it. An added option of feedback made communicating through the Internet a two-way street. With the emergence of Youtube, Vimeo and other video platforms, emergence of New media began in India.

In today’s time, approximately 80% of the Indian population uses the internet. With data becoming cheap and readily available as well as public welfare schemes like free wi-fi on railway stations, any person with a smartphone can access the internet and participate in the communication process.
With the inflow of Jio, a huge chunk of Indian population became dependent on Mobile Internet. 

Future and challenges

Future of the internet is as unpredictable and unforeseeable as of anything else. Orkut died after a short time and so did many other websites of the internet. With the dynamic characteristics of the internet, equipment required to access it and the impact it has on the masses, the future of the internet might look bright, but it may also disappear entirely from the world.

The biggest challenge for the internet is the authorities. Considering the internet provides freedom to the people to say and share whatever they wish, many restrictions have been put in place to avoid misuse of it. But in authoritarian regimes, dictatorships or in case of strict governing authorities, the Internet often faces filtration or bans. 
For example, in China, Google is not allowed. 
In Kashmir, there are internet bans on a regular basis. The current six-month ban in Jammu and Kashmir along with the partial restoration of 2G enabling white-listed websites is a glaring example. Authorities may decide to restrict or ban internet from public for the "greater good".

There is a world-wide debate going on Net Neutrality and everywhere in the world, the saner voices for equality seem to be throttled by those in power aiming at greater inequality in freedom of internet. 

With growth in technology and Artificial Intelligence becoming a reality, there might come a time when there is no need for internet. Another thing is that humans have become enslaved by technology. We see people trying to go back to their roots and trying things of past, of what their ancestors used to do. As such, the term Life is a cycle might come to a reality and people might decide to avoid internet altogether.

India is a country which has problems like poverty, corruption, starvation to deal with. As such, internet regulation does not become a priority which might be harmful for the society in the long run.