Google publishes 1st report under new IT rules, removes 59,000 content

Photo used for representational purpose

As India toughens its stand against the Big Tech over its new IT rules, Google on Wednesday released its transparency report in compliance with the IT rules, saying that it received a total of 27,762 complaints in April, while the number of removals stood at 59,350.

Google is one of the first global tech companies to have published its transparency report in compliance with the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code).

"We have a long history of providing transparency into the different types of requests we receive from around the world, and how we respond. All of these requests are tracked and included in our existing Transparency Report since 2010," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

"This is the first time we will publish a monthly transparency report in accordance with the new IT Rules, and will continue to publish more details as we refine our reporting processes for India," the spokesperson added.

The company said that to allow sufficient time for data processing and validation, there will be a two-month lag for reporting.

In future reports, data on removals as a result of automated detection, as well as data relating to impersonation and graphic sexual content complaints received post May 25, 2021, will be included.

"We are committed to making improvements in the upcoming iterations of the report based on the feedback from all the stakeholders, including providing more granular data," Google added.

Under the new IT rules, significant digital platforms (with over 5 million users) need to publish periodic compliance reports every month.

Nearly 96 per cent complaints received by Google deal with copyright issues (26,707), while 1.3 per cent deal with trademark (357).

"Some requests may allege infringement of intellectual property rights, while others claim violation of local laws prohibiting types of content on grounds such as defamation," said Google.

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