Desi microblogging site Koo implemented government’s new guidelines ahead of time

Indian microblogging site Koo said on Saturday that it has followed the new guidelines for the digital platform ahead of the deadline set later this month. On 25 February last, the government announced more stringent rules for social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, under which they would have to remove the content reported by the authorities in 36 hours and a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer working in India will have to be established.

Koo said in a statement on Saturday that its personal policy, terms of use and community guidelines follow the requirements of the rules applicable to important social media forums. Koo has around 6 million users, with which it becomes one of the forums under the new guidelines.

“Apart from this, Koo has implemented an equitable investigation and grievance redressal mechanism and a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Officer and a Grievance Officer residing in India will be part of it,” the company said.

The government, while defining the definition of ‘important social media platform’, had said that the number of registered users for this should be at least 50 lakhs. These social media forums will have to comply with additional obligations under the new information technology rules which aim to curb the misuse of these forums.

The government issued these guidelines in February, saying that the new rules would come into force with immediate effect and such social media providers would be given three months to start following them.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Koo, Ameya Radhakrishna said that the company is building a product in which the first place will be from India. The safety and convenience of users are our biggest priority. This site has been built by Aprameya with Mayank Bidawatka. It has the facility to communicate in Hindi, Telugu and Bangla and other Indian languages.