Ravi Shankar Prasad praises Google, Facebook and Instagram. Here's why
This is a big step towards transparency, Ravi Shankar Prasad said as Google, Facebook and Instagram submitted their compliance reports.
Social media giant Facebook claimed to have taken action against 30 million content pieces between May 15 and June 15. Google said it has removed 59,350 pieces of content and Instagram is believed to have taken action against about two million content pieces during the same period of time. This is a big step towards transparency, information and technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Twitter, while the microblogging platform has fallen out of favour with the government.
"Nice to see significant social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram following the new IT Rules. First compliance report on voluntary removal of offensive posts published by them as per IT Rules is a big step towards transparency," the minister tweeted.
This removal of content is not prodded by the government or any other constitutional authority. This falls under voluntary removal of offensive posts and the social media intermediaries with over 5 million users, under the new IT rules, are required to publish periodic compliance reports every month.
Koo, the home-grown competition of San Francisco-headquartered Twitter, also submitted its report stating it has proactively moderated 54,235 content pieces, while 5,502 posts were reported by its users during June.
The new IT rules have become a flashpoint in the ongoing tussle between the government and Twitter as Twitter is still working to comply with the rules beyond the deadline. On Saturday, it informed the Delhi high court that it is finalising the appointment of a new resident grievance office in India. Early in June, Twitter appointed Dharmedra Chatur in the post but he resigned later in the month following which the company appointed Jeremy Kessel. Since Jeremy is a US national, it violates the new IT rules.
Apart from the issue of the IT rules, Twitter has recently come under fire for showing an incorrect map of India on the site and for blocking IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's Twitter account.
