India talks tough with American tech giants on fake news: report

OFFICIALS in India have engaged in heated talks with US tech giants such as Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing what they called fake news on their platforms, Reuters reported citing sources.

The officials from India’s ministry of information and broadcasting lashed out at the companies and said their lack of action on fake news was compelling the government to seek taking down of content but the move was drawing international criticism saying the authorities in India were suppressing free expression, two sources told the news outlet.

The sources said the proceedings that happened at a virtual meeting on Monday (31) called the conversation as tense and heated, suggesting that not all was well with American tech companies and the Narendra Modi government.

The officials, however, did not issue any ultimatum to the companies at the meeting, the sources added.

It was said that while the government has been tightening regulations in the tech sector, it has sought the companies to do more on moderating content.

The meeting was a follow-up to the ministry’s use of “emergency powers” in the last two months to order the blocking of more than 50 channels on Google’s YouTube platform besides some accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

According to the government, the said channels were promoting “fake news” or “anti-India” content and that the disinformation was being spread through accounts based in Pakistan.

Neither the ministry nor Facebook (now called Meta), Twitter and content-sharing platform ShareChat responded to Reuter’s request for a reaction to the meeting.

Google said in a statement it reviews the government’s requests and “where appropriate, we restrict or remove content in keeping with local laws.”

Koo, which was also present at the meeting, said it complies with local laws and has strong content moderation practices in place.

During the meeting, senior tech executives reportedly told the government officials that they take adequate measures to remove or curb the spread of misinformation on their platforms, and act on legally-valid content removal requests, Reuters cited the sources as saying.