'Proactively moderated' 54,000 posts: Koo is first social media platform to release compliance report?

Social media platform Koo published the first edition of its compliance report today in accordance with the new IT rules.

Rule 4(d) of the IT Rules mandates that the compliance reports, which should be published monthly by social media intermediaries, must include details of complaints received and action taken as well as information removed or disabled access to as a part of "proactive monitoring".

According to news reports, Koo is the first Indian social media platform to publish its compliance report under the rules. The one-page report, which covers the month of June, states that 5,502 posts were reported on Koo of which 1,253 were "removed". A total of 54,235 posts were "highlighted in proactive moderation" of which 1,996, or 2.2 percent, were removed.

Business Standard quoted Aprameya Radhakrishna, one of the founders of Koo and its currently CEO, as saying: "As Koo gains traction across India, we will ensure that Koo respects the law of the land and meets the requirements, enabling every country to define its own digital ecosystem. This compliance report is one step in that direction."

Facebook has said it will publish its first compliance report, as mandated by the IT rules, in July.

The rules have been contested by digital news platforms for going beyond the remit of the Information Technology Act, 2000 under which they have been issued. It has been argued that unlike the new rules, provisions of the IT Act do not in any way seek to regulate or control digital news media.