India's IT Ministry Considers Forming An Appeals Panel Against Content Moderation Decisions On Social Media

The feud between social media platforms and the Indian government, continues to flare. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - India's Ministry of Information Technology is considering whether to set up an appeals panel with powers to reverse content moderation decisions from social media companies. If approved this would be the first step in efforts to tackle content moderation on social media around the world.

The announcement comes in a document seeking comment on the planned IT rule changes that took effect last year. These rules aim to regulate social media content, making companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter more accountable.

The document, published on Thursday, June 2, proposes one or more such appeals panels. The rule sets a 30-day deadline for appeals against decisions by corporate complaints officers, while the panel itself gets another 30 days to deal with the matter.

Social media companies are already required to have internal complaints handling officers and appoint executives to coordinate with law enforcement officers.

"Intermediaries must respect the rights granted to citizens under the constitution," says the draft rule in the newly added section, which refers to social media companies.

Tensions have flared between India's nationalist government and Twitter, which last year refused to fully comply with orders to remove accounts and posts accused of spreading misinformation about peasant protests against the government.

Last year, Indian government officials also said social media platforms may no longer be eligible to seek exemptions from obligations as intermediaries or content hosts from users if they fail to follow domestic information and technology laws.