Tech giants inability to moderate online content leaves Indian officials fuming
Strained ties between Narendra Modi’s administration and U.S. tech giants reached a new low Monday when discussions between Indian officials and Google, Facebook, and Twitter turned hostile. The Indian representatives at the virtual meeting pointed out their objections to the tech giants’ inability to remove what they described as fake news on online platforms.
The officials, from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, criticised the companies for their inability to terminate fake news, which was forcing the Indian government to take matters into its own hands and order content takedowns. This act by the government has been seen as suppression of free expression and has drawn international criticism.
In December and January, the ministry used emergency powers to block 55 channels on YouTube, and Facebook and Twitter accounts. Monday’s meeting was a follow-up to those actions. India has maintained that accounts based out of Pakistan are promoting fake news and anti-India content across social media.
Google didn’t comment on the meeting but it did release a statement where it restated how the company reviews governments’ requests to take down content. The statement read, “where appropriate, we restrict or remove content in keeping with local laws.”
Twitter didn’t comment either, but earlier transparency reports have shown that India ranks among the top in number of requests to remove content from its platform.
According to reports, India made 97,631 content removal requests across platforms in 2020, second only to Russia.
This isn’t the first instance of altercation between the Indian government and the tech giants. India has repeatedly urged the companies for better content moderation. But with the tech giants failing to come up with viable solutions, the government has been forced into tightening tech sector regulations. This has left the government susceptible to criticism, damaging its image in the international circuit.
The post Tech giants inability to moderate online content leaves Indian officials fuming appeared first on BGR India.
