India weighs panel to rule on appeals against social media takedowns

3D-printed Fb and Twitter logos are seen on this image illustration made in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

NEW DELHI, June 2 (Reuters) – India is contemplating whether or not to arrange an appeals panel with the facility to reverse the content material moderation choices of social media companies, the knowledge expertise ministry stated, in what could be the primary such transfer of its sort worldwide.

The revelation got here in a doc looking for feedback on plans for modifications to IT guidelines that took impact final 12 months, and goal to manage social media content material, making companies comparable to Fb (FB.O), YouTube (GOOGL.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) extra accountable.

The doc, made public on Thursday, proposed a number of such attraction panels. It set a deadline of 30 days for appeals in opposition to choices by firm grievance officers, whereas the panels themselves get an extra 30 days to take up the matter.

Social media companies are already required to have an in-house grievance redressal officer and designate executives to co-ordinate with legislation enforcement officers.

“The middleman shall respect the rights accorded to residents underneath the structure,” the draft guidelines say in a newly-added part, referring to social media corporations.

India ranks among the many largest sources worldwide of presidency requests for content material takedowns to Twitter Inc and Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O).

The ministry’s plan stands to extend authorities management of social media platforms by permitting it to nominate officers to oversee content material moderation choices, stated Apar Gupta, of the digital advocacy group the Web Freedom Basis.

“That is problematic, for this committee will lack any autonomy and is being fashioned with none statutory, or clear authorized foundation,” added Gupta, the group’s govt director.

Pressure has flared between India’s nationalist authorities and Twitter, which declined final 12 months to conform absolutely with orders to take down accounts and posts accused of spreading misinformation about farmers’ protests in opposition to the federal government.

Final 12 months, authorities officers stated social media platforms might now not be eligible to hunt legal responsibility exemptions as intermediaries or the hosts of person content material in the event that they did not comply with home data and expertise legal guidelines.

Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi; Enhancing by Clarence Fernandez

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