US firms flag ‘conflict of interest’ in India appeals panel; startups to meet with govt panel on Thursday

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Last month, the government proposed a number of changes to India’s IT rules, which came into effect in 2021. One of the proposals would require social media firms to comply with a new government panel that will rule on complaints against their content moderation decisions. Now, two US tech lobbies – representing Meta, Google, Twitter and others – have expressed concern that the panel may not be independent since the government will control its formation.

Credit: Giphy

Also in this letter:
■ Parliament panel to discuss competition concerns with tech firms
■ ETtech Explainer: Will India’s space policy launch startups into orbit?
■ Wipro profit drops a 20.9% year-on-year in Q1


US lobby groups question independence of India’s content appeals panel

FB Twitter

US lobby groups representing Meta, Google, Twitter and other tech giants are concerned that India’s plan to form a government panel to hear appeals against content moderation decisions could lack independence, Reuters reported, citing documents it has seen.

Catch up quick: In June, the government proposed changes to the Information Technology Rules, 2021. One of the proposed mandates requires social media companies to comply with a newly formed government panel which will decide on user complaints against content moderation decisions. The government has not specified who will be on the panel.

The proposal was open for public consultation until early July and no date has been set for its implementation.

Driving the news: The US-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), have both raised concerns internally, asking how such a panel could act independently if the government controls its formation.

USIBC said in an internal July 8 letter addressed to India’s IT ministry that the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) “is entirely controlled by the (IT) Ministry and lacks any checks or balances to ensure independence”.

USISPF also expressed concern internally in a document dated July 6, asking how the panel’s independence would be ensured.

A senior Indian official told Reuters on Wednesday the government was open to not having an appeals panel if companies come together and form their own “fairly neutral” self regulatory system of addressing user problems.

“If they don’t do it, government will have to. The panel is expected to operate independently,” said the official.

Govt vs Twitter: The latest development comes amid a clash between the government and Twitter over some of its content removal orders.

The company recently sued the government to have these orders revoked, saying they constituted an abuse of power and infringed on the free-speech rights of opposition politicians, among others.


Parliament panel to discuss competition concerns with tech firms

Zomato.

A key parliamentary panel will meet representatives of various tech firms, including Zomato and Flipkart, on Thursday to discuss their market behaviour amid rising concerns about anti-competitive practices.

Driving the news: According to a notice available on the Lok Sabha website, the committee will be hearing “views of representatives of associations/ industry stakeholders on the subject Anti-Competitive Practices by Big-tech companies” on July 21.

Catch up quick: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has been looking into various aspects of competition in the marketplace, especially with respect to technology majors.

The BJP’s Jayant Sinha, who chairs the panel, said representatives of food delivery companies Swiggy and Zomato, ecommerce firm Flipkart, cab aggregator Ola, hotel aggregator Oyo and the All India Gaming Association are among those that will be called.

On April 28, the CCI made a presentation about competition aspects in the marketplace to the parliamentary panel.

Sinha said the panel had “an excellent set of discussions” with officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and CCI.

There have been a flood of complaints about alleged anti-competitive practices by various technology firms in recent times.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is probing cases against Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, Google, Apple and others.

Tweet of the day


ETtech Explainer: Will India’s space policy launch startups into orbit?

Spacetech

India has come a long way in the commercial space sector since launching its first satellite in 1975. The country now boasts over 100 space tech startups, with a market share of $7 billion just two years after opening the industry to private players.

Despite this, India still accounts for only 2% of the $360 billion global commercial space market. To give it a boost, the government is set to unveil a revised draft space policy this year.

What is it? And will it put Indian space startups on the global map in the face of numerous challenges?

Read the full explainer here


Wipro profit drops 20.9% year-on-year in Q1

Wipro

IT giant Wipro reported a profit of Rs 2,563 crore in Q1 — a 20.9% year-on-year (YoY) decline and below analysts’ estimate of Rs 2,950 crore. Revenue rose 17.9% YoY to Rs 21,528.6 crore, with its strategic market units and global business verticals clocking double-digit growth.

The company expects revenue in the next quarter to grow 3-5% from this quarter. “We expect the revenue from our IT Services business to be in the range of $2,817 million to $2,872 million,” it said in an investor presentation.

Wipro CEO and MD Thierry Delaporte said the company’s order bookings grew 32% YoY in total contract value terms, powered by large transformational deals.

Netflix loses more subscribers: Meanwhile, streaming giant Netflix reported a loss of 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter, well below the two million it had predicted.

During its earnings call, it also revealed that it’s launching a new password-sharing payment feature in five Latin American countries — Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – to curb freeloaders and boost revenues.

Also read: Netflix to acquire Australian animation studio, Animal Logic


Indian startup ecosystem created 7.68 lakh jobs in the past six years

Indian Startups.

India has registered about 72,983 startups in the last six years, and these companies have generated about 7.86 lakh jobs over this period, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.

Maharashtra pipped Delhi and Karnataka – frequently dubbed the startup capitals of India – in terms of the number of startups registered and jobs created since the Startup India initiative was launched in January 2016, according to government data.

While Maharashtra topped the list with about 13,519 startups registered and 1.46 lakh jobs created in six years, Karnataka and Delhi came in second and third, respectively.

Yes, but: The Indian startup ecosystem is currently struggling amid a funding winter. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, US interest rate hikes, looming fears of a recession in major economies, rising inflation and other macroeconomic factors drove startup funding 23% down in the second quarter of 2022, according to data from CB Insights.

Several startups, including Unacademy, Byju’s and Meesho have laid off thousands of employees between them.

Layoffs.

Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Zaheer Merchant in Mumbai and Ruchir Vyas in New Delhi. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.





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