Government proposes self-regulatory body for social media, Google opposes
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New Delhi: It seems the tech giant Google is not pleased with India's move to set up a self-regulatory body for social media.
However, other major social media flat forms including Facebook and Twitter do not share Google's "grave reservations" about developing the body, as per the report by Reuters.
The news agency reported gleaning from sources that are aware of the discussions surrounding the self-regulatory body.
In June India proposed for a government panel to hear users' complaints about content moderation.
At the time, the government expressed openness to the idea of a self-regulatory body if the social media industry is willing.
Facebook and Twitter however are keen to avoid a government panel being formed as they fear "government and regulatory overreach" in India.
The lack of consensus among tech companies, according to the report, increases the likelihood of a government panel though.
A Google executive who participated in a close-door meeting this week reportedly told other attendees at the meeting that the company was not convinced about the merits of a self-regulatory body.
The executive was quoted as saying that the external reviews of the decisions could force Google to reinstate content despite they violated its internal policies.
The Google executive expressed concern of such directives from self-regulatory body setting a "dangerous precedent", the report said.
Representatives from social media platform including Facebook, Twitter and Google alongside Snap Inc and Indian social media platform ShareChat attended the meeting.
India's thriving social media space has hundreds of millions of users.
