Google, Facebook And Twitter Face Centre's Heat On Fake News

The government has held heated dialogues with social networking giants Facebook and Twitter and Google for not proactively removing content categorised as fake news on the respective platforms.

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New Delhi: In a bid to tackle fake news on social media, the central government has held heated dialogues with social networking giants Facebook and Twitter and search engine behemoth Google for not removing content categorised as fake news on the respective platforms, the media has reported. The central government had to resort to content takedowns as the tech giants failed to take action against fake news on their platforms and that drew international criticism stating authorities were suppressing free expression, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

ABP Live sent queries to Google, Twitter and Facebook for comments on the issue. They have not responded yet. This report will be updated if a response is received.

According to the Reuters report, sources familiar with the proceedings at a virtual meeting described the conversation between the Big Tech and the government as tense and heated, thus, signalling a new low in ties between American tech giants and PM Narendra Modi's administration. In the latest, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in January, had ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube news channels operated from Pakistan along with two websites for their involvement in spreading anti-India fake news in a coordinated manner on digital media.

Meanwhile, earlier in November 2021, Facebook India's (now Meta) senior representatives appeared before Delhi Assembly's Committee on Peace and Harmony. The committee had alleged that during the northeast Delhi riots that took place in February 2020, the social media giant did very little to stop the spread of fake news and hate posts on the platform. The Assembly panel has asked Facebook India's representatives to provide a detailed report on the measures taken by the organisation to control the hate content before and after the violence.