Twitter has dropped the ban hammer on 6,82,420 accounts in India citing breaches in terms of use including the promotion of child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity. This comes as Twitter faces ongoing financial struggles under the leadership of Elon Musk. Additionally, 1,548 accounts were taken down for promoting terrorism on the platform in India.
As per the new IT Rules 2021, Twitter has released a monthly report disclosing that only 73 complaints were received from Indian users during the same period, and 27 grievances related to account suspensions were processed. Of those, ten account suspensions were overturned, while the remaining accounts remain suspended.
"There are many measures that have been in place for a long time on Twitter that relate to the mitigation of child sexual exploitation and terrorism activity," Twitter wrote in its transparency report. "Twitter does not tolerate any material that features or promotes child sexual exploitation — whether in Direct Messages or elsewhere throughout the service. This includes media, text, illustrations, or computer-generated images."
"When we remove content, we immediately report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC makes reports available to the appropriate law enforcement agencies around the world to facilitate investigations and prosecutions," the company added.
Under the new IT Rules, large social media platforms with over five million users must publish monthly compliance reports. Twitter's report also stated that it received 24 requests for general information about Twitter accounts during this reporting period.
In other news, Twitter has announced that it will be removing all legacy verified blue check marks starting from April 1, 2023. Users who want to have a Blue Badge with verification will have to pay either INR 900 per month or INR 9,400 per year, and they will have access to additional benefits, such as the ability to edit tweets and post longer text and videos.