Venkaiah Naidu favours social media moderation; 'Maximalist positions won't solve issues'

On Friday, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called for moderation in the use of social media to prevent its abuse and avoid controversies so as not to hurt anyone's feelings. His statement came in the background of the government expressing "strong displeasure" over Twitter's delay in taking instant action against accounts and hashtags spreading misinformation about the farmers' stir.

VP Naidu while interacting with media said extreme or maximalist positions would not help in resolving the issue and called for an early resolution to the ongoing farmer's agitation through talks. The best way to effectively use social media without offending others is for the users to adopt the principle of moderation in content generation, he added in reference to restoring some accounts by Twitter regarding some comments on farmers'' agitation.

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Claiming that he was against controlling social media, Naidu said such effective platforms should not be misused and abused, and social media should not be allowed to be converted into theatres of war. Wars are hazardous to all. 

"Content for social media should be generated in a restrained and responsible manner by keeping the reactions to such content in mind. Such reflection would minimise offensive posts. Provocation should not be the objective. Sharing of views for better perspectives should be," the Vice President said, reported PTI.

Regarding the farmers' agitation, he stated that taking extreme or maximalist positions would not help in resolving the issue.

"Taking extreme or maximalist positions by any side makes it difficult to resolve the issue as it makes accommodation of the other point of view difficult. Accordingly, the principle of moderation applies in this case as well," he said, reported PTI.

He also said that Democracy is all about discussion and negotiated resolution of differences. It inherently calls for moderation without taking to extremes. It applies to both the issues concerning social media and farmers' agitation.

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Twitter blocks 97% of accounts

Amid the tussle with the Indian government, Twitter has blocked over 97% of the accounts and posts flagged by the IT Ministry for provocative content and misinformation around farmers' protest, news agency PTI quoting its sources said on Friday. The development comes following a meeting between Twitter representatives and the Information Technology Secretary on Wednesday evening where the US-based microblogging platform was issued a stern warning to comply with local laws or be prepared for action.

On February 4, Twitter was asked to take down 1,178 accounts with links to Pakistan and Khalistan supporters that were spreading misinformation and provocative content related to farmers' protest. Prior to that, the government had sought blocking of 257 tweets and handles in connection with the agitation by farmers over the new agricultural laws. Twitter had complied with the orders only to restore the accounts hours later.

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(With PTI Inputs)