Social Media Cos Expected to Remove Violating Content: IT Secy

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The government expects speedy cooperation and action from social media companies in taking down content that violates rules, including misinformation, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Wednesday but noted that by and large intermediaries have understood the spirit of the legal framework they operate in.

Social media companies have a responsibility to take down deepfakes and prohibited content as soon as such it is flagged to them. Safe harbour provisions do not apply if an intermediary does not promptly remove or take action on misinformation, Krishnan said.

Asked if the government is satisfied with the action taken by social media companies on misinformation, Krishnan said by and large, on an ongoing basis, the cooperation that the government is getting from social media intermediaries "is fairly substantial".

"...you would find that what we require them to take down is a very, very miniscule fraction of the total number of cases that they take down because a lot of content is violative of their own community guidelines, and that includes misrepresentation," Krishnan said at a Ficci event.

He added: "...sometimes the action is not fast enough. I think that is where the problem arises, and India being the kind of society it is, and the kind of country that it is... if in certain cases, you do not act fast enough, then it tends to cause other issues. I mean, certain situations are volatile, and the volatility of the situation is further exacerbated by this kind of content. So that is where I think we would expect speedier collaboration, cooperation from social media intermediaries (in) understanding sensitivities in the country."

That said, intermediaries in India have largely understood the spirit of the legal framework and tend to take action on such content voluntarily, he said.

On tariff implications for India from Donald Trump's election win in the US, the IT secretary said, "We are watching those developments very closely."

"...as of now, we believe there could potentially be an opportunity and we need to be prepared to take as much advantage, as we can, of any potential opportunity that may arise. Of course, some of the tariffs could also be against products from India, but I don't think we are going to be the primary target," he added.