X bans over 230,000 accounts in India for violations
The increase in account bans and the exhaustive breakdown of user complaints underscore the challenges social media companies face in maintaining community standards.
Between April 26 and May 25, Elon Musk’s X Corp banned 229,925 accounts in India, primarily for promoting child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity. Additionally, 967 accounts were removed for promoting terrorism, bringing the total to 230,892 banned accounts during this period. In compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, X Corp’s monthly report noted receiving 17,580 user complaints in India. The company processed 76 grievances appealing account suspensions but upheld all suspensions after review.
The report also mentioned 31 general account-related inquiries. Most user complaints involved ban evasion (6,881), hateful conduct (3,763), sensitive adult content (3,205), and abuse/harassment (2,815). Previously, between March 26 and April 25, X banned 184,241 accounts in India and removed 1,303 for promoting terrorism.
Why does it matter?
India, with nearly 700 million internet users, has introduced new regulations for social media, streaming services, and digital news outlets. These rules mandate firms to enable traceability of encrypted messages, establish local offices with senior officials, comply with takedown requests within 24 hours, resolve grievances within 15 days, and publish a monthly compliance report detailing received requests and actions taken.
About author
DW Team
The GIP Digital Watch Observatory team, consisting of over 30 digital policy experts from around the world, excels in the fields of research and analysis on digital policy issues. The team is backed by the creative prowess of Creative Lab Diplo and the technical expertise of the Diplo tech team.