New Delhi: IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday said while social media norms require platforms to remove illegal content within 72 hours of being flagged, he feels the timelines are “too long” and platforms should takedown such content “as fast as possible”.
Chandrasekhar said the IT Ministry had been keen on prescribing a 24-hour timeline for removal of illegal content (as specified under rules) given that “virality and velocity” of misinformation tends to be much higher, but then finally settled for 72 hours after wide consultations.
“Frankly I am of the opinion that 72 hours is too long…it was 24 hours during consultation, but it was widely felt that this is still early days and let us keep it at 72 hours and then progressively as the platforms gain capacity and capability, we will create a shorter window,” the minister said.