Twitter Received 1,253 Complaints In India In July, Banned 45K+ Accounts

Social media platform Twitter received 1,253 complaints in India between June 26, 2022 and July 25, 2022 via various local grievance redressal mechanisms. Besides, the microblogging platform also took action against 138 URLs for flouting community guidelines. 

Of the 1,253 complaints, a majority (874) pertained to online harassment. This was followed by grievances regarding hateful conduct (303), sensitive adult content (31), impersonation (18), intellectual property-related infringement (13), among others. 

Cracking the whip, Twitter also banned more than 45,000 accounts for flouting norms related to child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, terrorism and other similar content. Of these, 42,825 handles promoted content related to child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity, while the rest were actioned for promoting terrorism.

Twitter also said that it processed 124 complaints of account suspensions and none of the appeals were overturned. In addition, the social media giant also received 15 requests regarding general questions about Twitter accounts during the period under review.

As per its previous compliance report, Twitter had received 724 complaints in the country and had acted upon 122 URLs. Besides, Twitter had also proactively banned 43,140 accounts for violating its guidelines related to terrorism promotion and child sexual exploitation.

As per IT Rules, 2021, all social media platforms with more than 5 Mn users are required to furnish monthly compliance reports. 

Meanwhile, WhatsApp, in its compliance report for the month of July, said it banned 2.38 Mn accounts and received 574 complaints during the said period. Google received 37,173 complaints during the month and ordered 1.37 lakh removal actions. 

Twitter is currently engaged in a legal battle with the Indian government over certain blocking orders issued by the latter. While Twitter has filed its report in a sealed cover, the union government has sought dismissal of the petition citing no remedial measures for foreign commercial entities such as Twitter.