House Panel wants a fix to social media’s porn problem

BENGALURU: A Parliamentary committee formed to study the prevalence of adult pornography and child abuse videos on social media platforms in India has questioned microblogging platform Twitter and tech giant Google, and has sought answers on how they will curb children’s access to such content.

The committee, headed by Congress Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, is studying the ‘alarming issue’ of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society.

The panel, formed in December, has so far met with representatives of Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Google and ShareChat. Last week, the panel members asked Twitter about its policy allowing pornography on its platform, according to two sources. However, Twitter clarified that its policy allows only consensually shot pornography and does not permit revenge pornography or child abuse material.