New Delhi: Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday lauded digital giants like Google, Facebook and Instagram for publishing their first compliance report on voluntary removal of objectionable posts as per new IT rules, calling it a major step towards transparency. .
As per the new IT rules, online platforms with more than 5 million users are required to publish compliance reports every month detailing the complaints received and action taken on them.
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The Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology has praised Google, Facebook and Instagram’s move to file the first compliance reports on voluntary removal of objectionable posts and termed it as “a big step towards transparency”.
He tweeted, “Great to see important social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram complying with the new IT regulations. The first compliance report on voluntary removal of objectionable posts published by them as per IT rules is a step towards transparency. It’s a big step.”
The comment can also be seen in the context of the Indian government’s tussle with Twitter over the new social media rules, among other matters.
The IT Minister has on several occasions faced Twitter for its failure and failure to comply with the IT Rules 2021. Due to this the micro-blogging website has lost its intermediary status which gives it immunity from liabilities on the content on its platform.
In simple words, Twitter is now liable to face action for any illegal content posted by users.
In final stages of appointment of Resident Grievance Officer: Twitter tells Delhi High Court
Meanwhile, Twitter on Saturday told the Delhi High Court that the microblogging site’s Interim Resident Grievance Officer withdrew his candidature on June 21 and the platform is currently in the final stages of hiring a person for the post.
The company said it is in the final stages of appointing a replacement, while in the meantime complaints from Indian users are being addressed by the Grievance Officer.
Twitter’s response was in relation to a petition alleging non-compliance of the Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 filed in the Delhi High Court.
Compliance Reports by Facebook and Google
Facebook reported on Friday that it had “taken action” on more than 30 million posts across 10 infringing categories during the period from May 15 to June 15.
It said it took action on content related to spam (25 million), violent and graphic content (2.5 million), adult nudity and sexual activity (1.8 million), and hate speech (311,000).
Instagram also took action against nearly two million posts in nine categories during the above period.
Google reported that the search engine and YouTube had received 27,762 complaints in April for alleged violations of local laws or individual rights. This resulted in the removal of 59,350 material.
‘Action’ refers to the number of content such as posts, photos, videos or comments that have been acted upon for violating the Standards. Taking action may include deleting posts, covering photos or videos with warnings as they may be irritating to some users and more.
(with inputs from agencies)
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