According to reverse engineer Nima Owji, the Reactions feature, which started being tested a couple of months ago, is set to launch soon…reports Asian Lite News
After unveiling several features this year, micro-blogging site Twitter is reportedly readying new features, including Reactions, Downvotes and Sorted Replies for iOS users.
According to reverse engineer Nima Owji, the Reactions feature, which started being tested a couple of months ago, is set to launch soon, reports 9To5Mac.
With four new reactions, “tears of joy,” “thinking face,” “clapping hands” and “crying face,” this feature is designed to give users the ability to better show how conversations make them feel and to give users “a better understanding of how their Tweets are received”.
Citing the reverse engineer, the report also mentioned that the micro-blogging site is now able to store data about the downvotes feature, which is another indicator that this function will be released sooner rather than later.
The report also notes that the company changed the downvote position as well. It has even added a new tab explaining how downvotes work.
This month, the company has rolled out its in-app tipping feature to all Android users above the age of 18, following the iOS launch in September.
Twitter said the “Tips” feature is geared toward users looking to get a little financial support from their followers through Cash App, PayPal, Venmo and Patreon directly through the app.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has a following of 26.3 million on the platform, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has 19.4 million followers…reports Asian Lite News.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi now has more than 70 million followers on Twitter that made him one of the most followed active politicians across the globe on the social media platform. After Modi, Pope Francis has the highest number of followers on the microblogging site at 53 million.
As part of his social media outreach, Modi joined Twitter in 2009 during his stint as the Gujarat chief minister. Within a year, he had a lakh followers. In July 2020, the PM’s Twitter follower count touched 60 million.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has a following of 26.3 million on the platform, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has 19.4 million followers.
A very active user, Modi regularly posts developments and events on his Twitter page. On Thursday, he wrote about India’s tiger conservation strategy on International Tiger Day. “India’s strategy of tiger conservation attaches topmost importance to involving local communities. We are also inspired by our centuries old ethos of living in harmony with all flora and fauna with whom we share our great planet,” the PM wrote.
Meanwhile, the Modi government and Twitter have been engaged in a spat after new rules for social media platforms and digital news outlets were introduced by the Centre. A number of government departments and ministers have been moving on to indigenously developed app Koo as the US company fights it out over non-compliance issues.
Other world leaders
Among other world leaders, former United States President Barack Obama has a following of 129.8 millio followers, while his current counterpart Joe Biden is followed by 30.9 million accounts.
Donald Trump, who had the highest of followers at 88.7 million, was permanently removed from Twitter following the riots at the US Capitol.
It also said that it has acted against 133 posts over several reasons including harassment and privacy infringement….reports Asian Lite News
Micro-blogging platform Twitter filed its first grievance redressal report as required under under India’s new IT norms, wherein the company said that it has suspended 22,564 accounts for “child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity” and “promotion of terrorism”.
It also said that it has acted against 133 posts over several reasons including harassment and privacy infringement.
The data pertains to the period of May 26, 2021 to June 25, 2021 that included content on Twitter. This includes complaints received from individual users with accompanying court orders, it said.
“We receive complaints in our Grievance Officer – India channel that relate to account verification, account access, or seeking assistance or information regarding an account or Twitter’s enforcement actions that are not included in the data below. The majority of complaints received in this channel during this reporting period fell into these categories,” the report said.
“In addition to the above data, we processed 56 grievances which were appealing Twitter account suspensions. These were all resolved and the appropriate responses were sent. We overturned 7 of the account suspensions based on the specifics of the situation, but the other accounts remain suspended.”
Further, Twitter has also appointed Vinay Prakash as its Resident Grievance Officer (RGO) for the country.
The micro-blogging site had informed the Delhi High Court last week that it will take eight weeks to appoint a resident grievance officer in compliance with the new IT rules.
Prakash comes with a public policy background and will work towards easing off the ongoing tensions between Twitter and the IT ministry, which now has a new minister in Ashwini Vaishnaw who made it clear on day one that Twitter has to follow the law of the land.
On its portal, Twitter has updated the grievance officer contact information for users in India, naming Prakash as its RGO and providing an email contact ID.
The court added that it is open to Centre to take action against Twitter in case of any breach of the rules, as it adjourned the hearing in the matter till July 28…reports Asian Lite News.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that there is no interim protection for Twitter and the Centre is free to take any action if the micro-blogging site breaches the new IT rules.
A bench of Justice Rekha Palli said: “It is made clear that since this court has not passed any interim order, this court has granted time to Respondent No 2 (Twitter Inc) to file affidavit, no protection is granted.”
The court added that it is open to Centre to take action against Twitter in case of any breach of the rules, as it adjourned the hearing in the matter till July 28.
Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, appearing for Twitter, submitted that it was not seeking any protection either. He added that the consequence of non-compliance is that the protection to intermediaries falls off and added he would get notarised affidavit from the US, and it would require some time.
The court also granted two weeks’ time to Twitter for filing a notarised affidavit of a competent official of Twitter Inc.
The court was informed by Twitter’s counsel that an interim chief compliance officer (CCO) has been appointed, which will be followed by an interim resident grievance officer (RGO) by July and interim nodal contact officer will be appointed within two weeks.
On July 6, the high court had directed Twitter to inform it by July 8, when it will appoint an RGO in compliance with the new IT rules.
The court said the usage of “interim” would not lessen the responsibilities imposed on these officers to ensure compliance with the new IT Rules. Poovayya contended that since Twitter was in the process of setting up a liaison office in India, it could not appoint “permanent employees”. He clarified that interim does not take away the responsibility of the officer under the rules.
Earlier, Twitter has informed the Delhi High Court that it will take eight weeks to appoint an RGO and a CCO in compliance with the new IT Rules, and it is in a process of setting up a liaison office in India, which will be its permanent physical contact address. However, Twitter said it reserves the right to challenge the new IT Rules.
Twitter, on the other hand, has lost its status of intermediary platform in India over non-compliance to the new intermediary guidelines…reports Asian Lite News.
Days after his appointment as per the new IT guidelines, Twitter’s interim resident grievance officer for India, Dharmendra Chatur has stepped down, sources said.
The US-headquartered micro-blogging platform’s website does not show his name, as mandated under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
Twitter declined to comment on the matter.
On the website, the grievance officer contact information for users in India is listed as Jeremy Kessel, who is based out of San Francisco, US.
The development comes at a time when the micro-blogging platform is already under pressure to comply with the new norms and has faced severe criticism from the government along with warnings of legal proceedings.
The development comes just after Union Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was denied access to his Twitter account for almost an hour on Friday over alleged violation of the US’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Although, he was subsequently allowed to access the account, taking to India-made micro-blogging platform Koo, the minister called the action by the US-headquartered Twitter as “a gross violation of the IT guidelines”.
KOO (Wikipedia)
Earlier he had come down hard on the company over non-compliance to the new norms.
Twitter, on the other hand, has lost its status of intermediary platform in India over non-compliance to the new intermediary guidelines.
As a result of the development, the company has lost its legal shield in the country from prosecution over posts.
The micro-blogging platform recently said that it has appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer, as per the new norms, and the details of which would be soon shared with the IT Ministry directly.
He further alleged that Khan, Sherwani, Bhaskar, who have their social media account “got inspired from the incident and started a propaganda to spread hate amongst the citizens”…reports Asian Lite News.
Two days after Ghaziabad Police police booked Twitter Inc, Twitter Communication India Pvt Ltd and others, more troubles are brewing for the US-based social media giant as a complaint has been filed against it, it’s India MD Manish Maheshwari, Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar, journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani and others for giving communal colour without fact checking truthfulness of an incident.
The complaint has also named Mohammad Asif Khan and was filed on June 16 at Tilak Marg police station by an Advocate Amit Acharya.
An official said they are certifying the complaint and they will register a case only after that.
In his complaint Acharya alleged that some people had posted a video on social media of a man identified as Abdul Samad Saifi, who was beaten, thrashed and his beard was chopped off. “It was also contended that the miscreants were from Hindu community and they made Saifi to chant Vande Matram and Jai Shei Ram against his wishes,” Acharya alleged.
He further alleged that Khan, Sherwani, Bhaskar, who have their social media account “got inspired from the incident and started a propaganda to spread hate amongst the citizens”.
He said that the these users have lakhs of followers on Twitter and knowing the fact that their tweets have an impact in the society, “they gave communal colours to the incident without fact checking the truthfulness of the incident”.
“The concerned tweets were floated across the social media with the motive of hampering harmony and peace amongst the religious groups,” the advocate said.
He added that the tweets “did not indicate their personal opinions, instead showed their intentions of the users to initiate conspiracy against religious harmony in the country to encourage hate and enmity between the religious groups”.
He also alleged that the users “knowingly shared the false information and thereby committed offences under several sections ofnthe Indian Penal Code”.
Acharya in his complaint also mentioned the findings of the Ghaziabad Police and said, “Saifi and the other miscreants already knew each other. Saifi had sold a ‘tabeez’ to them guaranteeing positive results. And when it did not show positive results the miscreants beat him up. The police took cognizance and arrested three persons in connection with the incident.”
He said that the Ghaziabad Police also issued a statement on the intervening night of June 14 and 15 on its Twitter Handle regarding their findings.
“In spite of clear information available, the users used this incident to communalise and spread hate amongst the religions,” he said.
Charging the Twitter, Twitter India and its MD, Acharya said, “Twitter Inc, Twitter India, its MD Maheshwari did not take any action to remove these false tweets knowing the fact that the incident didn’t have any communal angle.
“Also it did not filter these tweets as manipulated media having the sole objective to disturb the peace and harmony among the citizens.”
The advocate further alleged that this is not the first time that these users have been accused of spreading false and hateful information through these platforms.
“I request to get an FIR registered against Khan, Bhaskar, Sherwani, Maheshwari, Twitter Inc, Twitter India and investigate the matter leading to a legal end by getting the alleged persons punished as per the laws of the land,” Acharya added.
Earlier, Ghaziabad Police had booked Twitter Inc, Twitter India, Mohammad Zubair, The Wire, Congress leader Shama Mohammad and several others.
“Twitter has lost its status as intermediary platform in India as it has not complied with new guidelines,” an official source said…reports Asian Lite News.
Social media platform Twitter has lost its status of intermediary platform in India over non-compliance to the new intermediary guidelines.
As a result of the development, the company has lost its legal shield in the country from prosecution over posts.
“Twitter has lost its status as intermediary platform in India as it has not complied with new guidelines,” an official source said.
Further, in a series of Tweets, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision.
“However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May,” he added.
He also said that Twitter was given multiple opportunities to comply with the same, however it has “deliberately chosen” the path of non-compliance.
Observing that the culture of India varies like its large geography, he said in another tweet: “In certain scenarios, with the amplification of social media, even a small spark can cause a fire, especially with the menace of fake news. This was one of the objectives of bringing the Intermediary Guidelines.”
On Tuesday, the micro-blogging platform said that it has appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer, the details of which would be soon shared with the IT Ministry directly.
On the row over an alleged fake video in Uttar Pradesh, the minister said: “What happened in UP was illustrative of Twitter’s arbitrariness in fighting fake news.
He was of the view that while Twitter has been over enthusiastic about its fact checking mechanism, it’s failure to act in multiple cases like UP is perplexing and indicates its inconsistency in fighting misinformation.
it also said that the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person nominated by the platform are not its employees in India as required under the new rules…reports Asian Lite News.
The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT has sent its final notice to Twitter over non-compliance of the new IT rules and has again warned of penal action in case the US-headquartered social media platform fails to comply to the norms.
The notice sent by the ministry noted that in view of Twitter Inc’s non-compliance with the rules which came into effect on May 26, 2021, “consequences follow”.
“However, as gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India,” it said.
The ministry said that it is clear from the responses of the company that till date it has not informed about the details of the Chief Compliance Office as required under the Rules. Further, it also said that the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person nominated by the platform are not its employees in India as required under the new rules.
“The office address of Twitter Inc as mentioned by you is that of a law firm in India, which is also not as per the rules.”
It said that the refusal to comply demonstrates Twitter’s lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform.
Sundar Pichai joins chorus says Google is clear about the values of a free and open internet and the benefits it brings, reports Asian Lite News
Twitter today broke its silence on new digital rules in the middle of its clash with the government over the “Congress toolkit” row and flagged concern over “the potential threat to freedom of expression” and “the use of intimidation tactics by the police”. In a sharply-worded statement, the social media giant said while it will “strive to comply with applicable law”, it planned to ask for changes to elements in the rules “that inhibit free, open conversation”.
This is the first time the micro-blogging site has spoken on the rules that require social media platforms to appoint a compliance officer in India, set up a grievance response mechanism and take down content within 36 hours of a legal order. WhatsApp has sued the government, saying the rules are unconstitutional and violate user privacy.
“Twitter is deeply committed to the people of India. Our service has proven vital for the public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. To keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India. But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law,” said a Twitter spokesperson.
“Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve. We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules. We plan to advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government and believe it is critical to adopt a collaborative approach. It is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry, and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public.”
Twitter has been on the radar of the government and the police after it marked posts by BJP leaders on an alleged “Congress toolkit” as “manipulated media”. The government asked Twitter to remove the tag and the Delhi Police visited Twitter India’s offices in Delhi and Gurgaon on Monday evening to serve notice asking for an explanation.
Technology touching society in deeper ways: Pichai
Meanwhile, Google said it is committed to complying with local laws and engages constructively with governments as they scrutinise and adopt regulatory frameworks to keep pace with the fast evolving technology landscape, its CEO Sundar Pichai said.
“It’s obviously early days and our local teams are very engaged… we always respect local laws in every country we operate in and we work constructively. We have clear transparency reports, when we comply with government requests, we highlight that in our transparency reports,” Mr Pichai said in a virtual conference with select reporters from Asia Pacific.
He added that a free and open internet is “foundational”, and that India has long traditions of that.
As a company, we are very clear about the values of a free and open internet and the benefits it brings and we advocate for it, and we engage constructively with regulators around the world, and we participate in these processes, I think it’s a part of how we learn…”
He added that the company respects the legislative processes, and in cases where it needs to push back, it does so. “It’s a balance we have struck around the world,” he said.
Pichai noted that technology is touching society in deeper and broader ways and the landscape is evolving at a fast pace.
“So, we fully expect governments rightfully to both scrutinize and adopt regulatory frameworks. Be it Europe with copyright directive or India with information regulation etc, we see it as a natural part of societies figuring out how to govern and adapt themselves in this technology-intensive world,” he said, adding that Google engages constructively with regulators around the world, and participates in these processes.
The new IT rules for social media companies, which came into effect from Wednesday, are aimed at making digital platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and Google – which have seen a phenomenal surge in usage over the past few years in India – more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platform.
Sources said the failure of social media companies to make these appointments in three months has not gone down well with the government..reports Aarti Tikoo Singh
The deadline to comply with the new legal rules meant for big social media platforms, which were issued by the government three months ago, is ending on Tuesday, threatening the operations of the likes of Twitter in India.
According to top official sources, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and others, which were required to abide by the rules notified in the gazette of India on February 25 under Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, have failed to comply on many accounts till date.
The government’s rules will come into effect from May 26.
“If social media companies do not obey the rules, they may lose their status and protections as intermediaries and may become liable for criminal action as per the existing laws of India,” top official sources said.
Except one Indian social media company, Koo, sources said that none of the top social media intermediaries have appointed a resident grievance officer, a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person yet.
Sources said the failure of social media companies to make these appointments in three months has not gone down well with the government.
With arbitrary suspensions of accounts and inaction over abuses and bigotry on social media platforms, users in India have been persistently complaining against tech giants like Twitter, Facebook and others.
In the latest alleged Congress toolkit controversy, Delhi Police visited Twitter India’s local offices in the National Capital Region on Monday after Twitter had marked one of the tweets of BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as “manipulated media”.
Twitter’s presumptive judgement has triggered widespread outrage among Indian users across the country.
Sources said the social media platforms which were required to furnish monthly reports as to how many grievances were filed and settled, have failed to do so. Some of the platforms, sources said, have sought more time of up to six months for furnishing compliance.
For some platforms, sources said, the standard reply has been that they will await instructions from their company headquarters in the US, who in turn on their own will have an “expert assessment” to take a view.
The US-based social media platforms have grown huge, thanks to their massive user base and profitable revenues in democracies like India. However, none of the platforms have shown any inclination to comply with India’s domestic laws. Instead, social media platforms have refused to be transparent about their fact-checking mechanism and their criteria to label tweets.
