April 28, 2022
2 mins read

‘India’s social media norms won’t change with Musk’s takeover’

Under the new IT rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms — with more than 5 million users — have to publish monthly compliance reports…reports Asian Lite News

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday that despite the Twitter board accepting Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover offer, the Indian guidelines for social media platforms will not change in order to protect users’ data privacy and safeguard them from any harm.

Speaking at the ‘Raisina Dialogue 2022’ here, the minister said the government’s guidelines on the social media intermediaries, including Twitter, will remain unchanged.

“Despite Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, IT guidelines governing the social media platforms remain the same. Social media needs to go beyond mere criminality and also expand focus on user harm when it comes to regulations,” Chandrasekhar told the audience.

The minister further said that algorithmic biases exist and therefore, “we need to create a mechanism to ensure accountability on algorithmic coding”.

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules), social media platforms are mandated to publish monthly transparency reports with details of complaints received from users in India and the actions taken, as well as removal actions taken as a result of automated detection.

Under the new IT rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms — with more than 5 million users — have to publish monthly compliance reports.

Earlier this week, the Twitter board accepted Musk’s $44 billion offer and the Tesla CEO made it clear that he will promote ‘free speech’ on his platform going forward, a move that has irked many.

Musk has said that free speech is the “bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.

If Twitter softens its stand on content moderation, it could allow more bullying, violent speech, hate speech, misinformation and other abusive content to gain ground.

“This may make Twitter less palatable to newcomers who were already wary about posting in a ‘public square’.

“It could also disincentivise advertisers from investing their budgets with the platform,” according to reports.

ALSO READ-Jaishankar raps Europe over silence in ‘Asia’

Previous Story

UN to coordinate evacuations in Mariupol

Next Story

Global Covid caseload tops 511.5 mn

Latest from India News

Bangladesh Seeks Fresh Talks on Ganges Treaty

Even though India continues to bat for the normalisation of relations between the two neighbouring countries, the current regime in Dhaka has faced massive criticism for making groundless accusations…reports Asian Lite News

India-Philippines Bond Shines in Cebu

India and the Philippines have collaborated on sustaining and consolidating their cultural relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations…reports Asian Lite News To mark 75 years of diplomatic ties between India and

Goyal: India Racing Toward a $35T Economy

Goyal emphasised that India will emerge as the world’s third-largest economy sooner than anticipated…reports Asian Lite News Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Sunday expressed confidence that India is on
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Europe tightens grip on social media

The Code of Practice on Disinformation is the first of

Twitter rival Koo clocks 50 mn downloads

Koo was launched in March 2020 as a multi-lingual micro-blogging