"Disagreement with Government Means Deletion?" India Faces Controversy Over Facebook Censorship Regulations

(Source: ALTAF QADRI/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Controversy is expected as Facebook introduces regulatory legislation close to post-censorship in India, the largest market with over 500 million users.

On the 26th (local time), according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced that it has decided to introduce new digital content management regulations to address false news and violent content on social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.

According to the new regulations released by the government that day, SNS companies like Facebook must establish a response system, including appointing a grievance officer responsible for handling illegal content.

Additionally, if there is a legal request from the Indian government, related content must be deleted within 36 hours, with sexual content requiring removal within 24 hours and security-related issues within 72 hours.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, India's Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, held a press conference the day before and stated, "We expect social media companies in India to be more responsible."

Minister Prasad explained the background of the regulation introduction, saying, that in recent years, there has been an increase in cases where social media is misused for crimes and anti-national forces.

India has 530 million Facebook users, the largest number worldwide.

Some view the introduction of these regulations as an attempt to 'tame' Facebook, which has a massive user base in India.

WSJ reported, "The Indian government caused controversy by demanding the deletion of SNS posts related to the recent mass protests by Indian farmers," adding, "Facebook has emerged as a strong political challenge to the Modi government."

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that this measure could lead to increased censorship and infringe on freedom of expression. The 'Software Freedom Law Center' in New Delhi pointed out that "the new regulations could violate the principles of openness and accessibility related to the internet."