Social media platforms propose an alliance to censor harmful content

With an aim to purge misinformation and fake news from circulating on social media platforms, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Bytedance have reportedly proposed an alliance called the Information Trust Alliance (ITA).

The association comprising of digital platforms, publishers, fact-checkers, civil society and academia, will help guard the social media platforms in India against harmful content such as spurious news and hate speech.

According to an ET report, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Bytedance, YY Inc and ShareChat have come together for discussions over the proposed alliance.

Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) will be leading the efforts for an alliance, the report added.

The association is also mulling on conducting various kinds of public awareness campaigns in schools, colleges and universities, conduct workshops with content creators and work with academia to find innovative solutions.

The talks are in early stage and it will take time to get materialised. However, the members have shown deep interest over the formation of such an alliance to censor harmful content on their respective platforms.

To adopt a standardised redressal process against disputed content, the social media giants have also proposed a uniform ‘Code of Practice’. There is a difference in opinion over code of conduct as Facebook opted for the self-regulatory mechanism, while Google, Twitter and ShareChat have expressed their doubts.

The association is likely to come with a unanimous decision on the matter soon.

Last month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the government had come up with a plan to keep the stricter regulations limited only to social media firms and minimal and straightforward regulation for other technology companies.