Social media to join hands to fight fake news, hate speech

BENGALURU: The world’s biggest social media companies, including Facebook, Google, Twitter and ByteDance, are exploring an industry-wide alliance to curb fake news on their platforms in India, even as the government finalises regulations aimed at censoring content.
The proposed alliance — to be named the Information Trust Alliance (ITA) — will be a grouping of digital platforms and publishers, fact checkers, civil society and academia that will aim to control the spread of harmful content, including fake news and hate speech, according to documents reviewed by ET.

So far, discussions have taken place among Facebook, Google, Twitter, Byte-Dance, ShareChat and YY Inc, sources said, with industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) leading the efforts for an alliance.

“Collaborative efforts give better results,” said Bhanupreet Saini, associate vice president of IAMAI. He said that while companies have their own policies, the “purpose of the ITA is to see how to (better) curb misinformation” on social media platforms.


The alliance proposes to run public awareness campaigns in schools, colleges and universities, conduct workshops with content creators, and work with academia to find innovative solutions. “It’s still in discussion… it’s an ongoing process. Everyone is interested, but it will take time to take it forward,” Saini said.

Differences Over ‘Code’
Google, Facebook, Twitter, ByteDance, Share-Chat and YY Inc declined to comment.

These companies have also discussed the creation of a ‘Code of Practice’, requiring companies to adopt a standardised redressal process as well as a centralised complaint registration mechanism for disputed content, according to documents reviewed by ET. The code also proposes an escalation or arbitration mechanism for disputes with penalties, if needed.

People in the know told ET that while Facebook has pushed for the self-regulatory mechanism, others such as Google, Twitter and ShareChat have expressed reservations.

Therefore, IAMAI has put the proposal for a code on the backburner for now, said industry executives.

While there is unanimity on the need for collaborative efforts to counter misinformation on digital platforms, members differ on the format for a standardised code as it would require “greater deliberation given the different practices followed by various platforms”, said IAMAI’s internal note.

Internet giants and startups are bracing for the upcoming amendments to intermediary guidelines of the Information Technology (IT) Act. The new rules will change the way social media companies monitor and take down content at the request of law enforcement agencies.

Currently, the IT Act provides a legal safeguard to technology platforms for the content shared via them. The new rules aim to make internet platforms legally more responsible.