Internet giants Facebook, WhatsApp and Google have taken down millions of posts and accounts on their platforms in India over July and August. According to monthly compliance reports published by the three companies today, Facebook took down over 33 million posts via automated algorithms and removal requests from users, while WhatsApp banned over three million accounts in the country. Google took down over 600,000 content pieces in July.
While Facebook and WhatsApp’s reports covered a 46-day period between 16 July and 31 July, Google’s report covers July only. India’s new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 came into effect on May 26, and Rule 4(1)d of the Rules mandated Significant Social Media (SSI) intermediaries to produce monthly compliance reports. SSIs are social media platforms that have over 5 million users in India.
Further, the reports showed a slight increase in the total content actioned by Facebook. The company had proactively taken down over 30 million content pieces in the previous 46-day period and received 646 reports from users through government mandated grievance redressal officers. Between 16 July and August 31, Facebook’s algorithms took down over 33 million content pieces and received another 1504 reports from users. The company said it responded to 100% of these user requests, though only 44 of them resulted in takedowns.
Google’s reports, too, showed an increase. The company removed 610,479 content pieces in June, using both automated tools and user requests, in June. The number grew to 672,572 in July. The number of content pieces removed through user reports grew from 36,265 to 95,680.
Unlike Google and Facebook, WhatsApp doesn’t use automated tools for taking down content off its platforms. The company encrypts user communications, which negates its ability to use such tools. However, WhatsApp banned 3,027,000 accounts from its platform in the 46-day period leading up to July 31, while it had taken down 2,011,000 accounts in the previous 46-day period. The company takes down an average of about 8 million accounts, approximately, every month globally, according to a source close to the company.
“The abuse detection operates at three stages of an account’s lifestyle: at registration; during messaging; and in response to negative feedback, which we receive in the form of user reports and blocks. A team of analysts augments these systems to evaluate edge cases and help improve our effectiveness over time," the company said in the report. All accounts that are registered with a +91 number are considered as Indian accounts.
