Google has expressed concerns regarding a self-regulatory body for social media in India. While Twitter and Facebook are in support of developing a self-regulatory body whose primary function would consist of hearing user complaints. For the unversed, the Indian government has proposed the appointment of a government panel to hear complaints about content moderation decisions from users, while, they also said that the social media companies can appoint their own self-regulatory body if the industry accepts.
Google is Unconvinced about the Merits of a Self-regulatory Body
According to the sources, an executive from Alphabet Inc’s Google told other attendees in a closed-door meeting that the company is unconvinced about the merits of a self-regulatory body. The exec was quoted saying that the body would mean external reviews of decisions that could force Google to reinstate content, even if it violated Google’s internal policies.
According to the international media, the initial draft of the proposal for the self-regulatory body would have a retired judge or an experienced person from the field of technology as chairperson, as well as six other individuals, including some senior executives at social media companies and the panel’s decisions would be binding in nature.
Read more: Twitter Sues Indian Government over Content Takedown Orders
YouTube Blocked over a Million Videos in India Between January and March
According to its Community Guidelines Enforcement report, the video-sharing platform YouTube blocked over a million videos in India during the first three months of this year – more than any other country in the world. As per the data, YouTube removed 1,175,859 videos in India for violating its Community Guidelines followed by the U.S. (3,58,134 videos) Indonesia (2,22,471 videos), Brazil (2,11,580 videos), Russia (2,02,743 videos), Pakistan (1,24,457 videos), Bangladesh (93,784 videos), Mexico (77,139 videos), Vietnam (72,875 videos) and Thailand (71,805 videos).
