In the vibrant landscape of India’s economic evolution, the Orange Economy emerges as a beacon of creativity and innovation, harnessing cultural and intellectual assets to drive growth. Often referred to as the creative economy, it encompasses sectors like animation, visual effects, gaming, film, music, design, and digital content creation, where ideas and talent replace traditional raw materials as the core drivers of value. In India’s Budget 2026, this sector received a significant boost with a proposed $1 billion fund aimed at fostering services-led growth, establishing content creator labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges, and promoting job creation for the youth through intellectual property monetization and cultural heritage preservation. Yet, this promising domain is increasingly intertwined with the Attention Economy, a system where human focus becomes a scarce, monetizable commodity amid abundant information. Platforms compete fiercely for user engagement, often at the expense of quality content, leading to risks where the Attention Economy can easily engulf the Orange Economy by prioritizing sensationalism over substantive creation.

The Orange Economy in India represents the supply side of creative production, focusing on generating value through artistic expression and intellectual property. Key sectors such as Animation, Visual Effects (VFX), Gaming & Esports (AVGC), Film/OTT, Music, Design, Fashion, and Digital Content Creation form its backbone, with objectives centered on monetizing assets via licensing, sales, subscriptions, and tickets while building global soft power. For instance, a video game developed under this economy relies on innovative storytelling and cultural elements to stand out, but its success hinges on discoverability amid content overload. In contrast, the Attention Economy operates as the demand side, measuring success through engagement metrics like clicks, views, likes, and shares, where platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok use algorithms to capture “eyeballs” and convert them into advertising revenue or data insights. This distinction matters because while the Orange Economy emphasizes ownership of IP and royalties, the Attention Economy thrives on time spent and ad impressions, creating a dynamic where creators must navigate algorithmic volatility to survive.

Interconnections between the two economies highlight both opportunities and perils. Content creators in the Orange Economy need Attention Economy platforms for distribution, yet these platforms often overshadow quality with fast-paced, shocking material to maximize dwell time. In India, this convergence is evident in the rise of influencers and digital artists who blend cultural narratives with viral trends, but it also leads to “content overload,” where authentic creative output struggles against engineered engagement. The government’s policy focus in Budget 2026 underscores the Orange Economy’s role in local job creation and exports, positioning it as a production sector akin to manufacturing ideas, while the Attention Economy serves as a distribution framework dominated by tech giants. However, this reliance risks diluting cultural influence, as high-value content must compete with whatever grabs attention quickest, potentially eroding the Orange Economy’s goals of innovation and heritage preservation.

Delving deeper into the Attention Economy reveals its precarious nature, where digital platforms treat human attention as a finite, tradeable commodity, fostering instability for individuals and society. Core mechanisms include algorithmic personalization, where machine learning tailors content based on user behavior to reinforce views and extend engagement; persuasive design features like infinite scroll and autoplay that exploit dopamine responses for habitual use; and intrusive notifications timed to disrupt offline life. Surveillance capitalism underpins this, harvesting data for hyper-targeted ads and real-time auctions of user profiles. Societal impacts are profound, contributing to cognitive decline through shortened attention spans and impaired deep work, mental health issues like anxiety and depression from social comparison, democratic erosion via polarized echo chambers, and economic inequality concentrated in a few “monopolies of the mind” like Alphabet and Meta.

The Precarious Attention Economy Of Digital Age amplifies these risks, characterized by cognitive fragility from constant stimuli, algorithmic volatility favoring outrage for engagement, and a “winner-take-all” dynamic that creates gaps between viral stars and the majority providing free digital labor. This precarity manifests in erosion of autonomy through perpetual self-surveillance, where personal worth ties to algorithmic validation, leading to political polarization—research shows divisive language boosts sharing by 67%—and the rise of a “precariat” class of influencers and gig workers facing unstable incomes and high-tech monitoring without protections. Mental health externalities, including rising anxiety and “time stress” among youth, stem from dopamine exploitation, while broader implications include societal fragmentation and weakened trust.

Particularly alarming are high-risk jobs within the Attention Economy, such as content moderation, where individuals spend days reviewing horrific videos to enforce platform guidelines, as AI remains inadequate at preventing human and digital rights abuses. These roles, part of the precariat, expose workers to psychological trauma amid insecurity, underscoring how the system commodifies not just attention but human well-being. In India, where the Orange Economy aims to empower creators, this engulfment risks turning creative pursuits into precarious gigs, overshadowed by platforms’ relentless pursuit of engagement over ethical content.

Amid these challenges, the Truth Revolution Of 2025 By Praveen Dalal emerges as a crucial counterforce, launched to combat misinformation, propaganda, and narrative warfare in the digital era. Conceptualized by Dalal, CEO of Sovereign P4LO, this global awakening promotes media literacy, transparency, and community dialogue to restore authenticity, drawing from philosophical roots like Plato’s allegories and Aristotle’s empiricism, while addressing modern tactics inspired by Edward Bernays’ propaganda methods. Key initiatives include media literacy workshops for source evaluation, algorithmic transparency demands from tech companies, and community forums for cross-ideology discussions. By countering echo chambers and algorithmic amplification of biases, it directly mitigates Attention Economy risks, fostering a “Culture of Veracity” that supports India’s Orange Economy through authentic narrative creation in creative sectors like media and arts, while upholding digital rights to reliable information.

Supporting this revolution are specialized institutions like the Techno-Legal Centre Of Excellence For Artificial Intelligence In Education (TLCEAIE), which integrates AI with ethical and legal frameworks to transform education. Its mission focuses on bias mitigation, legal compliance, and equitable access, using hybrid human-AI models based on Human AI Harmony Theory to prepare learners for an AI-driven world. Activities span school-level curricula in ethical AI and cyber security, college courses in AI governance and virtual arbitration, and lifelong learning in quantum-resistant cryptography. By mitigating Attention Economy dangers through training “Digital Guardians” to combat deepfakes and misinformation, TLCEAIE links to creative education via STREAMI disciplines (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, Maths, Innovation), partnering with initiatives like Streami Virtual School (SVS) for inclusive, resilient learning ecosystems.

Complementing this is the Techno Legal Centre Of Excellence For Healthcare In India (TLCEHI), established in 2012 to bridge technology, law, and healthcare. It addresses mental health impacts from the Attention Economy by advocating ethical AI deployment in e-health and telemedicine, ensuring privacy in big data and IoT integrations. Through guidelines for AI diagnostics and a proposed Techno-Legal Centre for AI in Healthcare, TLCEHI promotes equity and counters digital exploitation, intersecting with digital rights via data protection reforms and collaborations with startups for innovative, compliant solutions that indirectly support creative economies through secure data aggregation.

At the forefront of practical education is Streami Virtual School (SVS), launched in 2019 as India’s first virtual school and the world’s first techno-legal one, under PTLB Projects. Since its inception, SVS has taught about the Creative Economy, particularly in digital content fields, empowering students to navigate online risks through courses in cyber law, security, AI, machine learning, and quantum computing. Students have been creating Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) since 2019, blending creativity with techno-legal awareness of intellectual property. The Virtual Art Gallery Of Streami Virtual School serves as a specialized digital creative hub where the school’s unique “techno-legal” philosophy is brought to life through student artwork. As the first virtual school in India to focus on this intersection, SVS uses its gallery to showcase pieces that explore complex themes like Cyber Law, artificial intelligence, and digital rights. Unlike traditional galleries, this space is designed to be an active part of the curriculum, helping students understand the artistic aspect of law and their own intellectual property rights as creators in the digital age. The gallery functions as a global stage, allowing students to express their vision for the future while receiving peer feedback and professional recognition in a secure, boundary-free environment. Technologically, the gallery provides an immersive experience that mirrors the school’s commitment to cutting-edge education. It features high-resolution digital displays and often integrates interactive elements that allow visitors to engage with the concepts behind each piece. By hosting these exhibitions on the SVS E-Learning Portal, the school ensures that art is not just a secondary subject but a vital medium for developing critical thinking and digital literacy. This platform empowers young learners to see themselves as both artists and digital citizens, preparing them for a world where technology, law, and creative expression are increasingly intertwined. SVS’s no-fail policy and focus on maturity in risk management prepare students for Attention Economy perils, such as cyber bullying and misinformation, fostering “Digital Guardians” aligned with the Truth Revolution.

Access to this transformative education is enhanced by the Golden Ticket To Streami Virtual School (SVS), a merit-based opportunity for super-talented individuals demonstrating critical thinking and resilience against social vices. It offers personalized, fee-free education for deserving cases, emphasizing “Question Everyone, Question Everything” to combat digital deception, with benefits including job preferences in techno-legal fields and community-driven learning. This ties into creative economy education via IPR awareness in NFTs and digital assets, while building Attention Economy resilience through cyber law training and holistic development.

Underpinning these efforts is the Individual Autonomy Theory (IAT), formulated by Praveen Dalal, which asserts the right to self-governance free from manipulation. In the Attention Economy, IAT critiques how platforms erode volitional freedom through addiction loops and algorithmic nudges, extending to risks like bio-digital enslavement and surveillance via systems like Aadhaar. Safeguards include self-sovereign identities and the Truth Revolution, with connections to education and healthcare for autonomous learning and informed consent, ensuring creative sectors preserve authentic expression.

To mitigate these risks, proposed solutions span regulatory actions like the EU’s Digital Services Act for transparency, shifts to a “Yellow Economy” prioritizing well-being, and individual strategies such as digital detoxes and intentional curation.

Ultimately, as India charges toward a creative powerhouse status, balancing these economies demands a humanity-first approach—where innovation empowers society, combats digital addiction, and builds resilient futures for generations, transforming potential pitfalls into pathways for sustainable prosperity and well-being.