India to Decide on Appeals Panel With Authority to Reverse Social Media’s Content Moderation

India ranks among the largest sources worldwide of government requests for content takedowns to Twitter, Meta.

By Reuters | Updated: 2 June 2022 16:55 IST

India to Decide on Appeals Panel With Authority to Reverse Social Media’s Content Moderation

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Jeremy Bezanger

Social media firms are already required to have an in-house grievance redressal officer

Highlights

A panel to review social media takedown appeals is being considered
The panel would have power to reverse sites' content moderation decisions
The appeals panel could get 30 days to take up a particular matter

The government is considering whether to set up an appeals panel with the power to reverse the content moderation decisions of social media firms, the information technology ministry said, in what would be the first such move of its kind worldwide.

The revelation came in a document seeking comments on plans for changes to IT rules that took effect last year, and aim to regulate social media content, making firms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter more accountable.

The document, made public on Thursday, proposed one or more such appeal panels. It set a deadline of 30 days for appeals against decisions by company grievance officers, while the panels themselves get a further 30 days to take up the matter.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Social media firms are already required to have an in-house grievance redressal officer and designate executives to co-ordinate with law enforcement officials.

"The intermediary shall respect the rights accorded to citizens under the constitution," the draft rules say in a newly-added section, referring to social media companies.

India ranks among the largest sources worldwide of government requests for content takedowns to Twitter and Meta.

Social Media Usage Can Lead to ‘Problematic Engagement’ With Influencers

Tension has flared between the government and Twitter, which declined last year to comply fully with orders to take down accounts and posts accused of spreading misinformation about farmers' protests against the government.

Last year, government officials said social media platforms may no longer be eligible to seek liability exemptions as intermediaries or the hosts of user content if they failed to follow domestic information and technology laws.

How is Alexa faring in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.