Social media companies appear to be complying more often with the government’s directives to take down posts, with the number and proportion of posts actioned by Twitter seeming to have recorded a particular increase, according to data provided by the Union ministry of electronics and technology (Meity) to a House panel.
The takedown requests were sent under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, a person aware of the matter said, adding that these were legally binding on the companies to follow since the law gives the government the power to order removal of content over certain grounds, including threats to law and order and national security.
The data correlates with significant controversies that broke out in connection with social media moderation.
For instance, in the past five years, the highest number of requests sent were in 2020 (11,449) and 2021 (7,898), when protests took place over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the now-repealed farm laws respectively. The year 2020 also had the highest compliance at 86%, followed by 2021 at 77%.
In comparison, the overall compliance was 66% in 2018, 61% in 2019. Till June, 2022, 1,096 of the 1,362 – or 80% -- of the requests sent were actioned, the data showed.
{{/usCountry}}In comparison, the overall compliance was 66% in 2018, 61% in 2019. Till June, 2022, 1,096 of the 1,362 – or 80% -- of the requests sent were actioned, the data showed.
{{/usCountry}}While the overall number of posts taken down fluctuated by the year for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other unclassified social media companies, it appeared to only increase every year in the case of Twitter. The company removed 224 links in 2018, 1,041 in 2019, 2,731 in 2020, and 2,851 in 2021.
A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to requests for a comment.
Since the data did not include the details of requests sent to each of the companies every year, the details of requests complied with suggested Twitter now accounted for close to half of all posts taken down on government directives. The number of URLs it removed rose from 8% of all takedown requests in 2018 to 46% in 2021. In the first six months of 2022, this number was at 49%.
Since 2021, the government and social media companies, especially Twitter, have been locked in multiple confrontations over social media moderation. The row broke out first when the company restored posts related to farm protests after initially removing them following government orders. This triggered public reprimands from the then Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, following which the administration tightened the rules under the IT Act.
Government officials have maintained that social media companies must abide by the law of the land, while the companies and civil liberties activists have said there is a lack of transparency in how these orders are issued, and many instances represent administrative overreach and stifling of free speech.
Earlier this year, Twitter sued the government in the Karnataka High Court, arguing that account-level blocking was unconstitutional. In its petition, it challenged the orders to take down 34 accounts, an order that it said was a “disproportionate” use of (government) power.
Shortly after, the incumbent Union minister for electronics and IT said social media accountability “has become a valid question globally”. “It’s important to hold it accountable, which will first start with self regulation, then industry regulation, followed by government regulation...”
An order to block a post/account is passed by a designated officer appointed by the central government, who chairs an inter-ministerial committee comprising of officials from the ministries of law and justice, home affairs, information and broadcasting and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). The committee vets requests from several different stakeholders.
“India has been the world leader in the number of internet shutdowns; it now also appears that it has the dubious distinction of being the major democracy that issues the most web censorship orders directly to online platforms. This stark rise in digital authoritarianism is also being reinforced by legal and regulatory moves by the Indian Government to consolidate its legal leverage to force online platforms into compliance, whether via the IT rules or proposed new laws to replace the Indian Information Technology Act,” said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific Policy director at Access Now.