The government requests to remove content posted by journalists and news organisations increased dramatically in 2020, data by the social media giant, Twitter revealed. On Wednesday, Twitter in its transparency report said that in the second half of 2020, it received 361 legal requests from governments to remove information from verified accounts of 199 journalists and news organizations on its platform, up 26% from the first half of the year.
Majority of Tweet Removal requests from India
As per a report by the news agency, Reuters, the biennial report on Twitter's policy enforcement and the information and removal requests it gets comes as social media giants such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's YouTube are under fire from governments across the world for the content they allow on their platforms.
According to the article, Twitter eventually erased five messages from journalists and news organizations. The majority of the removal requests were submitted by India, followed by Turkey, Pakistan, and Russia. Previously, the social media platform did not keep track of such information on requests from journalists or publications.
Previously, the social media platform did not keep track of such information on requests from journalists or publications. According to the research, India topped the list for government information requests in the second half of 2020, surpassing the United States for the first time.
From July 1 to December 31, it received over 14,500 requests for information worldwide, with 30 percent of those requests resulting in the production of part or all of the requested information. Governments and other organizations may make inquiries for the identity of people who use pseudonyms on Twitter.
In the first half of 2020, Twitter received over 38,500 legal demands to remove diverse content, down 9% from the first half of 2019. It complied with 29% of the demands.
Twitter has had multiple run-ins with governments, most notably with India over its new social media content rules. The business announced last week that it had engaged an interim chief compliance officer in India and will select other officials to follow the standards.
