Twitter names Resident Grievance Officer, publishes first compliance report under new IT rules

The micro-blogging site appoints Resident Grievance Officer for India.

FILE PHOTO: The Twitter App loads on an iPhone in this illustration photograph taken in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Twitter has appointed Vinay Prakash as its Resident Grievance Officer for India, according to its website.

The micro-blogging site has also published its first compliance report, which is mandatory under the new digital rules.

“In compliance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,

we have published our inaugural report on July 11, 2021 for the reporting period from May 26, 2021 through to June 25, 2021,” Twitter said on the company’s website.

As per the new digital media rules, significant social media intermediaries, which include those with over 50 lakh users, are required to appoint a grievance officer, a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These persons have to be residents in India.

Twitter has already appointed an interim chief compliance officer and is expected to appoint a nodal officer soon.

In its compliance report, titled “India Transparency Report”, Twitter has provided data on the different categories of complaints from users and action taken on them as well as provided information on its proactive monitoring efforts. Between May 26, 2021 and June 25, 2021, Twitter received a total of 38 complaints, which resulted in action against 133 URLs. Of these, the largest number of complaints pertained to defamation(20), followed by abuse or harassment (6) and sensitive adult content (4).

Twitter also processed 56 grievances appealing for suspension of user accounts, of which seven were overturned and remaining suspended.

The social media giant has also said that proactive monitoring of user content led to suspension of 18,385 accounts for child sexual exploitation and 4,179 accounts for terrorism related activities globally.