Tag: it rules

WhatsApp Bans 37.16 Lakh Accounts in India Last Month, 60 Percent More Than October

Instant messaging platform WhatsApp on Wednesday said it banned 37.16 lakh accounts in India in November, about 60 percent more than the accounts it barred in the preceding month.

The banned WhatsApp accounts in India include 9.9 lakh accounts which were barred proactively before being flagged by users.

In October, WhatsApp had banned 23.24 lakh accounts in the country, including 8.11 lakh accounts which were barred proactively.

“Between November 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022, 3,716,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 990,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users. An Indian account is identified via a +91 phone number,” WhatsApp said in its India Monthly Report for November published under the Information Technology Rules 2021.

The tougher IT rules, which came into effect last year, mandate large digital platforms (with over 50 lakh users) to publish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.

Big social media firms have drawn flak in the past over hate speech, misinformation and fake news circulating on their platforms. Concerns have been flagged by some quarters time and again over digital platforms acting arbitrarily in pulling down content, and ‘de-platforming’ users.

The government last week announced rules for setting up a grievance appeal mechanism against arbitrary content moderation, inaction, or takedown decisions of big tech companies.

WhatsApp received higher number of appeals from user in November to ban accounts compared to October.

It received 946 complaints in November from users, which included appeal to ban 830 accounts. It acted only against 73 accounts.

WhatsApp said it responds to all grievances received except in cases where a grievance is deemed to be a duplicate of a previous ticket.

An account is ‘actioned’ when it is banned or a previously banned account is restored, as a result of a complaint, the report said.

In addition to responding to and actioning on user complaints through the grievance channel, WhatsApp deploys tools and resources to prevent harmful behaviour on the platform, the report said. 

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Government Amends IT Rules to Set Up Grievance Appellate Panels for Social Media

The government on Friday tweaked IT rules to pave way for setting up of grievance appellate panels, which will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.

These committees will be able to review content moderation decisions by social media companies like Meta and Twitter.

The ‘Grievance Appellate Committees’ will be set up within three months, according to a gazette notification on Friday.

Incidentally, the move comes at a time when the CEO of electric car maker Tesla, Elon Musk, has completed his $44 billion (nearly Rs. 3,62,300 crore) takeover of Twitter, placing the world’s richest man at the helm of one of most influential social media apps in the world.

The IT rules changes have been in the works for months, though, ever since users red-flagged instances of digital platforms acting arbitrarily. The latest move will arm the users with a grievance appeal mechanism in the form of appellate committees that will look into complaints filed by individuals against decisions of grievance officers of social media platforms.

The amendement to IT rules were notified on Friday.

“The central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022,” the notification said.

Each grievance appellate committee will consist of a chairperson and two whole-time members appointed by the central government, of which one will be a member ex-officio and two shall be independent members.

“Any person aggrieved by a decision of the grievance officer may prefer an appeal to the grievance appellate committee within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of communication from the grievance officer,” it said.

The grievance appellate panel will deal with such appeal “expeditiously” and make an endeavour to resolve the appeal finally within thirty calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal. 

 

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WhatsApp Banned Nearly 24 Lakh Indian Accounts in July, 14 Lakh Accounts ‘Proactively’ Disabled: All Details

WhatsApp removed nearly 24 lakh accounts in India in July, the company stated in its monthly compliance report. The Meta-owned messaging service is an intermediary under the IT Rules, and publishes monthly reports on actions taken against accounts on the platform. According to WhatsApp, 14 lakh accounts were banned ‘proactively’, which means they were removed without receiving any reports from users. On Wednesday, Facebook and Instagram revealed that a total of 2.7 crore posts on the social media platforms were removed in July.

According to WhatsApp’s latest report titled ‘India Monthly Report under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’ the messaging service banned over 23,87,000 accounts in India in July.

WhatsApp said that the accounts were banned based on both user reports through the company’s grievance redressal system, which is mandatory under the IT Rules, as well as its own systems to identify accounts violating its terms of service.   

It is worth noting that the company’s removal of nearly 24 lakh accounts is the highest since March, when over 18 lakh accounts were banned. The company removed 16 lakh and 19 lakh accounts in April and May, respectively. Meanwhile, 22 lakh accounts were banned in June. 

WhatsApp also has to acknowledge and address complaints from users under the grievance redressal mechanism mandated by the IT Rules. The firm says that it received 574 user reports, acting on 27 of them. 

The highest number of user reports were related to account ban appeals, and the company says that it actioned 27 of these accounts. Meanwhile, the company marked 116 reports for account support, 13 reports for safety and other reports as not actioned. 

On Wednesday, Meta revealed that it had removed over 2.7 crore posts from Facebook and Instagram in July as part of its compliance report for that month. Facebook, which is an intermediary under the IT Rules, took down 1.73 crore spam posts and 23 lakh posts for violent and graphic content, as part of its efforts to comply with the government’s regulations for social media platforms.

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Facebook, Instagram Removed 2.7 Crore Posts in India During July: All Details

Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram took action against a total of 2.7 crore posts on the social media platforms in July, according to its monthly report. The firm, which is an intermediary under the IT Rules, took down 1.73 crore spam posts and 23 lakh posts for violent and graphic content, as part of its efforts to comply with the government’s regulations for social media platforms. Meta also published details of actions taken on complaints under the grievance redressal mechanism, stating it had responded to 100 percent of user reports.  

In its monthly report under the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for July published on Wednesday, Meta revealed that the company had removed 2.5 crore posts on Facebook, and 20 lakh posts on Instagram in July. The company publishes regular reports on actions taken on content during the previous month. 

According to Meta’s latest report, the company removed 1.73 crore instances of spam on Facebook, with a “proactive rate” of 99.6 percent. In addition to the action taken on spam, 1.1 lakh posts related to hate speech, 23 lakh posts related to violent and graphic content, and 27 lakh posts with nudity and sexual content were removed from the platform with proactive detection rates of 99.9 and 99.4 percent, respectively. 

The company says that over 9 lakh posts on Instagram were related to suicide and self-injury, while over 22,000 instances of hate speech and 3.7 lakh posts related to nudity and sexual content were removed from the photo and video sharing service.  The proactive detection rates for these types of content were 99.5 percent, 77.4 percent, and 96 percent, respectively. 

Under the IT Rules, Meta’s social media platforms are expected to respond to users’ complaints via a grievance redressal mechanism. The company said that it received 626 and 1033 reports from users on Facebook and Instagram respectively, and claims that it responded to all user reports. 

On Facebook, the company resolved the issues for 603 reports by providing appropriate tools, taking action on nine out of the 23 remaining complaints based on the company’s policies. 

Meanwhile, on Instagram, the company says it resolved issues for users in in 945 cases with the help of the required tools, while action was taken on 35 of the remaining 88 reports, according to Meta. The company says it expects to publish subsequent editions of the report with a delay of 30 to 45 days after the reporting period. 

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India’s Proposed IT Rules, Panel Formation for Content Moderation Decisions Concern US Tech Giants

US lobby groups representing Facebook and Twitter are concerned India’s plan to form a government panel to hear appeals against content moderation decisions could lack independence, documents seen by Reuters show. The proposed policy change is the latest flashpoint between India and technology giants which have for years said stricter regulations are hurting their business and investment plans. It also comes as India clashes with Twitter in a high-profile spat, which recently saw the social media firm sue the government in a local court to revoke some content removal orders.

The June proposal mandates social media companies must comply with a newly formed government panel which will decide on user complaints against content moderation decisions. The government has not specified who would be on the panel.

But the US-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the US Chamber of Commerce, and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), have both raised concerns internally, saying the plan raises worries about how such a panel could act independently if the government controls its formation.

The rules will create a Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) “which is entirely controlled by the (IT) Ministry, and lacks any checks or balances to ensure independence,” USIBC stated in an internal July 8 letter addressed to India’s IT ministry.

“In the absence of industry and civil society representation, such GACs may result in over regulation from the government.”

The new Indian proposal was open for public consultation until early July and no fixed date for implementation has been set.

Underscoring its concerns, USIBC noted that other countries like the European Union guarantee principles of “fairness and impartiality” in its appeal process, while a government-funded think tank in Canada recommends an “impartial dispute resolution” by a “disinterested professional body”.

The other group, USISPF too expressed concern internally in one document dated July 6, questioning “how will its (panel’s) independence be ensured.”

Together, USIBC and USISPF represent top technology companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Alphabet Inc’s Google — companies that often receive government takedown requests or carry out content review proactively.

USIBC, Facebook and Google did not respond to requests for comment, while USISPF and Twitter declined comment. India’s IT ministry did not respond.

A senior Indian official told Reuters on Wednesday the government was open to not having an appeals panel if companies come together and form their own “fairly neutral” self regulatory system of addressing user problems.

“If they don’t do it, government will have to. The panel is expected to operate independently,” said the official.

Tension flared between India and Twitter last year when the company declined to comply fully with orders to take down accounts the government said were spreading misinformation. Twitter has also faced backlash for blocking accounts of influential Indians, including politicians, citing violation of its policies.

Other US tech companies such as Mastercard, Visa, Amazon, and Walmart’s Flipkart have had a host of issues with Indian policies on data storage, stricter compliance requirements as well as some foreign investment rules many executives say are protectionist in nature.

The Indian government has said it was forced to announce the new rules in a bid to set “new accountability standards” for social media giants.

Without specifying which rights, the proposals also call for companies to “respect the rights guaranteed to users under the Constitution of India” as companies had “acted in violation” of such rights.

Both USIBC and USISPF note in their documents they believe fundamental rights in India can’t be enforced this way.

“The fundamental rights are not enforceable against private companies … The rule appears to be broad, and will be difficult to demonstrate compliance,” USIBC said.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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