Sharechat Took Action On 2.85 Mn Content Pieces In May For Flouting Norms

Sharechat received more than 5.4 Mn user complaints (54,52,798) via various reporting mechanisms on its website in May 2022. 

A bulk of the grievances were clubbed under the ‘others’ category (26.42%), followed by complaints related to abusive language (23.53%), sexually explicit content (10.23%), among others, the company said in its monthly compliance report. 

Sharechat also permanently terminated 11,370 user accounts for repeatedly breaching community guidelines. 

The homegrown social media platform also received 8 legal notices from law enforcement agencies in May. It shared data with authorities in seven such instances, while a takedown request was processed in one another case.

More than 2.85 Mn content pieces (28,56,862) were also actioned by the platform in May 2022. These included 2.5 Mn pieces of user generated content (UGC) for flouting community norms. 1.5 Lakh content pieces were also taken down for being explicit, while 1.26 Lakh comments were removed for defying guidelines.

In addition, 68,410 items were also screened for copyright infringement, while 681 chat rooms were banned for flouting norms. 

Sharechat also imposed a ‘permanent’ UGC ban on 10,699 user accounts, while permanent ‘edit profile ban’ was imposed on 10,517 accounts. A permanent ‘comment ban’ was imposed on 10,573 accounts

The platform bans users across three broad categories – UGC ban, edit profile ban and comment ban. The duration of the ban ranges from a single day to nearly a year (permanent ban). 

In comparison, ShareChat had received 5.01 Mn user complaints (50,11,076) in April this year, while it had terminated 10,930 user accounts permanently during the month.

Meanwhile, instant messaging platform WhatsApp, in its latest compliance report, said that more than 1.9 Mn accounts were banned in India in April. Facebook and Instagram together also acted on 21.6 Mn pieces of content in April this year.

Twitter also received 1,589 complaints in India between April 26, 2022 and May 25, 2022, and took action against 1,621 URLs. Google India received 25,694 complaints in May and took down 62,673 based on those complaints for allegedly violating community guidelines.

Under the new IT Rules 2021, social media platforms with a big user base are mandatorily required to publish monthly compliance reports.

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