Inrecent years. India has with ia} medi or “finfluencers™ on socl (formerly Twitter). These individua offer stock market tips. mull! fund sus more to millions of followers: ¢ has now become a serious concern. A recent oting a newly listed stock as le invested in it, causing, its price to spike k crashed, revealing, that the finfluencer any’s promoters to create ated. spac However, this unregul -known finflucncer pron example involved a well a “hidden pem.” 7 housands of peoP artificially. A few wecks later, the stoc had received undisclosed compensation from the comp promotional content — effectively making it a “pump and dump” scheme. This led to public uproar, loss of hard-earned money by common people, and an erosion of trust in online financial conte! _ The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) initiated an investigation ced challenges due to loopholes in current digital regulation frameworks. Meanwhile, several other finfluencers continue similar activities unchecked. You are an officer in the Ministry of menace and propose policy and ethical s Finance, asked to*look into this growing afeguards (a) Identify and evaluate the key ethical issues involved in this case. ensure that financial influencers act with (b) What steps would you suggest [0 accountability and integrity? How would you balance the need for regulation with the right to freedom of expression? (c) What role can digital platforms and social media companies play in promoting } —

Topper: Krishna Goyal · AIR 300 · 2025 · Page 46