The highest number of complaints from India were related to abuse/harassment (264), followed by hateful conduct (84), sensitive adult content (67), and defamation (51).
Microblogging platform, Twitter has said it has suspended more than 11 lakh accounts in India between 26 April and 25 May, mostly for child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity. In addition, 1,843 accounts were removed for promoting terrorism on the platform. According to Twitter’s monthly report under the new IT rules-2021, the platform processed 90 complaints challenging account suspensions. The highest number of complaints from India were related to abuse/harassment (264), followed by hateful conduct (84), sensitive adult content (67), and defamation (51). As per the new IT Rules 2021, large digital and social media platforms with more than five million users will have to publish monthly reports on their compliance with the rules.
Meanwhile, under Elon Musk’s leadership, Twitter has recently complied with a staggering 83% of government requests to either restrict or block content around the world, including in India and Turkey, according to media reports. Last month, after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US, Musk said that a company “has no choice but to obey local governments” when asked about former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s wild claim that the Indian government had threatened to ban Twitter if it did not block certain accounts. The Karnataka High Court recently rejected a plea by Twitter that challenged several blocking and takedown orders issued by the Department for Electronics and Information Technologies, saying the pleas were unfounded. Pronouncing the operative part of the verdict, the bench also ordered Twitter to pay Rs 50 lakhs to the Karnataka State Law Commission within 45 days.
