Is removing or suspension of your social platform account or banning you from such platform violation of your right to speech and expression?

Does a social media network have the right to take down content, if it relates to a company’s trademark & consumer’s data allegedly leaked after a data breach? Do social media platforms address the content which relates to abuse, child sexual exploitation, hateful conduct & violent threats?

Does the social media network, a private entity, have the right to impose limitations on the content posted by the users, in its platform? 

Let's find out!

In India, Twitter withheld 2 accounts & 23 tweets in response to a legal demand from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MEITY”) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”). MEITY was of the view that the aforementioned content was propagating objectional content. This is, probably the redacted version of the legal request that was sent to Twitter, clearly identifying the objectionable content. 

As per Twitter, number of complaints from the third parties like the government, or NGOs, or legal professionals representing their client’s interests, have risen over time.

When does this, happen?

As per Twitter, it may suspend accounts, if it observes any violation of the Twitter rules. The common instances, when it resorts to the suspension of the accounts, temporarily or permanently limiting the user's ability to interact with others in the platform, include the following :

• By itself

1. when they suspect that, an account is a spam, or fake;
2. when they suspect that, someones’ account is hacked/ compromised;

• When reported

1. when other users of the platform report someone else’s behaviour as abusive, i.e. sending death threats or impersonating others accounts; and
2. when they determine that, there has been a violation of their trademark policy, pursuant to the request of the trademark holder.

How does social media platform, like Twitter, impose restrictions on its users, to enforce any of its policy/rule violation?

The following lists down a few of the mechanisms used by Twitter, either individually or in combination with other mechanisms, to enforce its policies/rules, either on its own or pursuant to a request from any authorized entity :

At the tweet level 

• Limiting the visibility of a tweet in Twitter, search results, replies & on timelines;
• Requiring the violator to remove the allegedly illegal tweet, by sending an email notification to the violator, in which it shall identify the aforesaid content;
• Hiding a tweet, in the interim period between when Twitter takes enforcement action and the person removes the tweet

At direct message level

• Stopping the alleged violator from sending messages directly to the one, who reported the violation;

At the account level 

• Making an account’s profile content temporarily unavailable, if it is non-compliant with Twitter’s policies;
• Requiring the violator to edit the media or information in its profile, if it is non-compliant with Twitter’s policies;
• Placing an account in read-only mode for a temporary period, ranging from 12 hours to 7 days, depending on the nature of the violation;
• Locking an account, pending the completion of ownership verification with a phone number or email address;
• Permanently suspending an account & notifying other people that such account has been suspended for abuse violation. It is to be noted that, the violator shall not be allowed to create new accounts;

What do the social networks argue for putting a limitation on the type of content & behavior of the users?

Generally, social networks remove accounts to provide a safer & secure environment for its users. They temporarily suspend the accounts, until the account is secured & restored to the concerned account owner, to prevent causing of any potential malicious activity following the breach of security. 

But, do they get it right all the time? Of course not! They do commit mistakes. When they realise this, they tend to rectify their mistake by working with the concerned person to restore his / her account. 

Cases of removal / suspension and / or ban of user from social media network

Typically, social media platforms have rules & policies specific to a particular jurisdiction. For example, if a user has posted content on Nazi symbol or defamatory statement which might be considered illegal in a specific jurisdiction based on local laws, then the social media network might, either remove this content suo-moto, or do so specifically after receiving a court order / directions from law enforcement authorities / or other user. 

When the social media platforms receive requests from third parties, then, they generally follow the following approach:

• First, they review the content which has been reported by the third party, specifically when it relates to the alleged violation of its terms of service.
• After such review, the platform either, withholds that content, at the account level or post level.
• On the other hand, if the platform does not find enough meat in the complaint, it may request for more information. 
• The platform may choose not to take any action, if it does not receive any substantial information or the complaint does not identify the alleged illegal content.

Assessing right to speech & expression along with reasonable restriction, from a social media perspective

A bunch of rules, community guidelines, privacy policies and terms of service, essentially governs the relationship between the service provider, that is the social media platform and the beneficiary of the services, which is the user. In essence, it lays down a contractual framework to govern the ways in which its users access & use its services.

Typically, the service providers reserve the right to remove or refuse to distribute any content in their platform & suspend or terminate users’ accounts. 

The relevant excerpts from Twitter’s terms of service are :

“We may suspend or terminate your account or cease providing you with all or part of the Services at any time for any or no reason, including, but not limited to, if we reasonably believe: 

(i) you have violated these Terms or the Twitter Rules or Periscope Community Guidelines, 

(ii) you create risk or possible legal exposure for us; 

(iii) your account should be removed due to prolonged inactivity; or 

(iv) our provision of the Services to you is no longer commercially viable. 

We will make reasonable efforts to notify you by the email address associated with your account or the next time you attempt to access your account, depending on the circumstances. In all such cases, the Terms shall terminate, including, without limitation, your license to use the Services, except that the following sections shall continue to apply: II, III, V, and VI. “

What actions can you take, if the alleged violator believes that, the social media network has committed an error?

Social networking platforms like Twitter have provision for appealing the decision of permanent suspension of the account. The violator shall explain the details of the interface where he/she is experiencing the issue. Along with that, such user shall describe the reason behind filing such appeal, like explaining why such user believes that his / her account has not violated Twitter’s rules. 

In response, if Twitter is of the view that such suspension was valid, then as per Twitter’s policy, it responds to the appeal with information on the specific policy, which the account has violated.

Disclaimer: The aforesaid views are personal views. This in no way constitutes as professional advice.