Twitter, Google Under Indian Govt Scanner For Porn, Child Abuse Content

Microblogging website Twitter and global tech giant Google have come under the Indian government’s scanner for not doing enough to prevent porn and allowing young users easy access to child abuse videos. A parliamentary committee has sought answers regarding the same.

According to ET report, the panel met representatives from Facebook, TikTok and Sharechat, along with Twitter and Google. The committee had reportedly summoned Twitter last week to inquire about its pornography policies.

At the meeting, Twitter notified that the microblogging platforms allows users to share consensually shot porn. Twitter also clarified that it does not allow any sort of revenge porn or child abuse material.

Even though Twitter’s policy on nudity and porn is more liberal than other platforms, it has emphasised that the platform has zero-tolerance policy for child sexual exploitation.

Google, on the other hand, also stressed that it has limited the search for any such abusive content on its search engine and YouTube. Google also notified the parliamentary committee that YouTube requires login to watch adult-rated or pornographic content. With this login, Google ensures that the viewer is above 18 years of age.

The Parliamentary Committee’s Plan Of Action

The 14-member parliamentary committee was formed in December 2019 by Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and is Indian National Congress’s leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh. The Indian government’s committee has been set up to study the extent of porn in social media and its effect on children and society.

The committee, which has members from 10 political parties, plans to hold deliberations with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and social media companies.

Besides this, it will also hold discussions with civil society groups, child psychiatrists, teachers, experts, parents and government agencies like the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and law enforcement agencies.

What’s The Step Ahead?

According to the ET report, Twitter has also come forward to suggest that the social networking industry and the government should take a constructive approach to educate youngsters and teenagers about social media behaviours. The micro blogging site also emphasised on the need for education to make teenager’s experience on social media safer and smoother.

Even ShareChat asked the parliamentary committee to set up a framework like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of the US to regulate and protect teenagers from interacting with such content online.

The parliamentary committee is also looking to present a report with a list of suggestions on regulatory and legislative actions that can help to prevent the influx of porn and child abuse videos online.