Twitter slow on removing unlawful content, need to appoint contact person in India: Govt

Expressing unhappiness over social networking site Twitter slow action to remove unlawful content, Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba has asked the platform to improve the system of response and appoint contact person in India for quick redressal of complaints.

"Action taken by Twitter for removing unlawful content has been slow in some cases and compliance for removal of unlawful content has been only about 60% even where orders have been issued by the competent authority after following due process of law,” Gauba said in a statement to the top brass of the social networking site.

The team was asked to ensure around the clock mechanism for prompt disposal of requisitions of law enforcement agencies.

On Monday, Vijaya Gadde, Global Head of Legal, Policy, Trust and Safety Lead, Twitter and Mahima Kaul, Indian Representative of Twitter met the Union home secretary.

It was impressed upon Twitter representatives that they should improve their system of response to investigations related to legal requests of Law Enforcement Agencies under provisions of Criminal Penal Code and other laws, said the MHA.

It also warned Twitter of stern action in case of failure. The ministry gave an instance of posts on Twitter, which could have led to violence and disturbance of the peace.

In the last few months, the home ministry has talked to social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, and Youtube to curb the spread of fake news and remove unlawful content.

Jack Dorsey, who is in India, yesterday met IIT Delhi students and talked about introducing edit button for a tweet and curbing of fake news.

Twitter chief is also expected to meet IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. This year in May, the social networking site identified and challenged around 40 million fake accounts–up from 6.4 million in December and 3.2 million in September 2017.