In a recent revelation, X Corp, helmed by Elon Musk, made headlines by implementing a stringent crackdown on illicit activities on its micro-blogging platform in India. According to the latest monthly report submitted in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, X Corp disclosed that it had banned a staggering 2,33,160 accounts in the country between December 26 and January 25.
The primary reasons cited for these bans were the promotion of child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity, leading to the prohibition of a record 2,31,215 accounts during the aforementioned period. Additionally, X Corp took down 1,945 accounts for their involvement in promoting terrorism within the Indian cyberspace.
Furthermore, X Corp’s grievance redressal mechanisms received a total of 2,525 complaints from users in India during the specified timeframe. Among these, 40 grievances pertained to appealing account suspensions, of which 9 account suspensions were overturned upon review.
The company revealed that the majority of complaints from Indian users centered around issues such as ban evasion (967), abuse/harassment (684), sensitive adult content (363), and hateful conduct (313).
Prior to this, between November 26 and December 25, X Corp had already banned 2,27,600 accounts in India, with 2,032 accounts being removed for promoting terrorism.
In a separate development, a report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) shed light on X Corp’s provision of premium, paid services to accounts associated with leaders of a US-designated terrorist group and several other entities sanctioned by the government. The report identified over a dozen X accounts for US-sanctioned entities that possessed a blue checkmark, indicating the acquisition of a premium subscription.
