89% Citizens surveyed vote for Social Media Companies proactively removing hate, offensive and rumour content in India

New Delhi, India, July 8, 2016 – LocalCircles (www.localcircles.com), today concluded its latest citizen survey and discussion on making Social Media more responsible in India. Such a discussion was initiated after many issues raised by citizens all across India on the subject of hate, abuse and harassment prevalent on social media and an urgent need to do something about it.

It was studied that recently a regulation has been signed upon in EU by major social media companies that requires them to proactively monitor social media and remove any hate or offensive content within 24 hours of posting. The EU regulation details are available at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1937_en.htm

The discussion and poll on localcircles focused on the need for a similar regulation in India to make social media a safer and more responsible space. Below are the poll results and summary of structured discussion on what citizen wants India to implement:

Poll Results:

Collective Citizen Discussion results/recommendations:

• 1. Similar to EU social media regulation signed by Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube should be required to sign a regulation in India
• 2. This regulation should require them to remove hate/offensive content within 24 hrs of posting
• 3. The content of social media sites should be constantly regulated
• 4. The rules of engagement should be set for all the members
• 5. If a member breaks the rules of engagement, then he should be warned for it
• 6. Repeated offences should lead to suspension of the members social media account
• 7. Members should be empowered to regulate the content on the site
• 8. Anything spreading against nation/nationalism to be caught and reported immediately
• 9. Social media should bring out corruption case with some proof/evidences
• 10. Responsible use of social media (including aspects of ethics, defamation laws, privacy and the ‘echo chamber’) is part of the UNESCO initiative and people should be informed about it
• 11. Access of children to social media need to be regulated by parents
• 12. Social Media sites should have special monitoring for accounts of members under age of 18 years
• 13. People should be educated that freedom of expression is important but it should not lead to rumour mongering, character assassination and meaningless speculation
• 14. A Central Government ministry should become the owner of the subject and should keep a close watch on different groups and forums in social media
• 15. Every person advertising for a product should hold responsibility for the fact & correctness of the product
• 16. The media should be made to publish the ownership/shareholders along with registration particulars from time to time to prevent reporting bias
• 17. The person posting could be made responsible for the authenticity of the content. This way 'dangerous rumours' would be prevented
• 18. Auto filters should be put to detect and remove messages with violence, hatred and anti-nationalism.

About LocalCircles

LocalCircles, India’s leading citizen engagement platform takes Social Media to the next level and makes it about Communities, Governance and Utility. It enables citizens to connect with communities for most aspects of urban daily life like Neighborhood, Constituency, City, Government, Causes, Interests and Needs, seek information/assistance when needed, come together for various initiatives and improve their urban daily life. LocalCircles is free for citizens and always will be!

Special Note on Subject: While any of the above proposed regulations if passed will also require LocalCircles to comply to them and therefore deploy more resources to monitor and delete content, it believes that it is the right thing for building a responsible social media ecosystem and in long term national and social interest.