Google publishes 1st report under new IT rules, removes 59K content

As India toughens its stand against the Big Tech over its new IT rules, Google on Wednesday released its transparency report in compliance with the IT rules, saying that it received a total of 27,762 complaints in April, while the number of removals stood at 59,350.

Google is one of the first global tech companies to have published its transparency report in compliance with the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code).

"We have a long history of providing transparency into the different types of requests we receive from around the world, and how we respond. All of these requests are tracked and included in our existing Transparency Report since 2010," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

"This is the first time we will publish a monthly transparency report in accordance with the new IT Rules, and will continue to publish more details as we refine our reporting processes for India," the spokesperson added.

The company said that to allow sufficient time for data processing and validation, there will be a two-month lag for reporting.

In future reports, data on removals as a result of automated detection, as well as data relating to impersonation and graphic sexual content complaints received post May 25, 2021, will be included.