India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) recently held a “heated” meeting with representatives from Google, Twitter, and Facebook, demanding stricter measures from them to curb the spread of fake news. The Big Tech companies are said to be inactive while removing the required content deemed fake and require them to handle this in a better way.
A report by Reuters suggests that the I&B official criticized Google, Twitter, and Facebook for their measures taken to curb fake news and suggests that their “inaction” has forced the Indian Government to take down such content, which has, in turn, attracted global scrutiny, for the government is said to be suppressing the freedom of speech.
The tech companies also suggested the Indian Government avoid taking the content takedowns public so that their image isn’t tarnished. However, this suggestion was rejected by stating that “takedowns also publicize how the companies weren’t doing enough to tackle fake news on their own.”
