On Friday, the Indian government advised Twitter, YouTube (GOOGL.O), and Telegram to remove child sexual assault content from their services. The government stated that if they don’t comply, the corporations might lose legal liability protection.
The federal Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) warned that child sexual abuse content on internet platforms must be removed immediately and permanently.
“If they do not act swiftly, their safe harbor under section 79 of the IT Act will be withdrawn, and consequences under the Indian law will follow,” said Rajeev Chandrashekhar, India’s junior IT minister.
Narendra Modi’s government wants “to build a safe and trusted internet under the IT rules,” Chandrasekhar has advocated for deleting such damaging information from the Indian internet.
X, Google, which owns YouTube, and Telegram did not reply to Reuters queries for comment.
The statement also requested content moderation algorithms and reporting procedures from firms to prevent child sexual abuse material from being shared.
In July, Reuters reported that India instructed Netflix (NFLX.O) and Disney (DIS.N) to independently examine their material for obscenity and violence before streaming it online.
