Google, Facebook's action is a big step towards transparency: Ravi Shankar Prasad

(PTI) New Delhi, Dt

The move by social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram to remove 'catastrophic posts' after the government's new IT rules came into force is a big step towards 'transparency', Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday.

Major social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram have started taking action against 'catastrophic posts' under the new IT rules. Following the new IT rules, Facebook has taken action against more than 30 million posts, while Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram has taken action against 20 million posts between May 15 and June 15. Search engine Google has removed 2,50 links from its products, including YouTube.

Google and Facebook submitted their first compliance report to the government under the new IT rule. Indigenous social media app Koo said in its report that it had taken action against 1.3 out of 4,308 complaints. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted that it was good to see important social media platforms like Google, Facebook and Instagram complying with the new IT rules. The first compliance report on the voluntary removal of a catastrophic post published by them as per IT rules is a big step towards transparency.

Meanwhile, Twitter, which has been at loggerheads with the central government over the issue of new IT rules, told the Delhi High Court that the appointment of an interim resident grievance officer and an interim chief compliance officer under the new IT rules was in the "final stage". Meanwhile, the complaint officer is investigating the complaint made by Indian users.