Sebi Removes Unlawful Social Media Content

Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) Over 1 lakh unlawful contents were removed from social media platforms in the last 18 months, Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Monday highlighting the need to save gullible investors from fraudsters.

Pandey said Sebi had escalated the issue of unlawful content with platforms like Google and Meta.

Speaking at an investor awareness event at NSE here, he said the advent of technology tools has made it easier for the wrongdoers to post problematic content which deceives investors, and underlined that maintaining trust is important to ensure that no one falls prey.

"More than 1 lakh such items have been escalated in the last 18 months," he said.

Citing the results of a recent survey of 90,000 respondents undertaken by Sebi, Pandey said only 36 per cent of people have a high or moderate amount of knowledge of capital markets, illustrating that a vast set of people are potentially vulnerable to misleading content.

"This knowledge gap is a vulnerability that exposes our investors to risks and makes them susceptible to fraud," Pandey said, terming this a challenging proposition given the importance of trust for a country like India.

"When trust is broken the engine of our economy falters. People are reluctant to invest, savings remain unproductive and cost of capital rises," he warned.

Pandey said investor awareness is one of the top focus areas for Sebi, and the regulator is resorting to a host of measures on the same, including using the media of choice pointed by investors in the survey.

Apart from it, the regulator is also establishing local offices in state capitals and other important cities in its efforts to reach out to the last mile, he said, listing out a number of things which an investor must be wary about.

"First, invest your time. Second, verify, don't trust blindly. Third, question unrealistic promises. Fourth, do your own research," he said, urging investors to read Sebi's investor charter.

He pointed to the derivatives market as a case in point, where Sebi studies have shown over 90 per cent of trades ending in losses for retail investors.

"'They (investors) do not fully understand the risks in these products. Derivatives are meant for hedging and risk management, not for quick gains which may be illusory," he added.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, NSE's Chairman Srinivas Injeti said the largest stock bourse has embarked on a public listing to set an example for the wide range of companies which are listed.

"We are very much on that track. One of the motivation for NSE to go public is to exemplify that it stands for what it expects from the listed companies and lead by example," he said.

Even though NSE is not listed, it has a wide shareholder base of close to 1.8 lakh, Injeti said.