Twitter should intensify verification process to only allow real people, says Parliamentary Committee of Women

After the Parliamentary Committee of Women **called upon Facebook and Twitter** regarding concerns over “online safety of women and children,” it finally met with Twitter officials on Wednesday. It asked the representatives to take measures that will make women feel safer on the platform. [caption id=“attachment_7288511” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. Image: Reuters[/caption] As reported by ET Tech, the committee suggested Twitter ramp up the verification process so that only real people with accounts can be active. In this case, verification means the process where an account is validated via the email address or mobile number to curb the creation of multiple fake accounts. This will ensure that anonymity is reduced on the platform. It will gradually bring down the amount of abusive content that’s currently present on the platform. The Parliamentary Committees, which acts like a “mini parliament” gives the report to the Lower House or the Speaker and plays an important role in giving recommendations and making policies. Officials of Twitter had been asked to appear on Wednesday (4 December), and Facebook had been called upon on Thursday (5 December). The panel was headed by BJP MP Heena Gavit with 20 other members. One suggestion was to age-restrict the entry of new users on the platform to over the age of 15. The panel proposed to remove contextual words that are usually used to abuse women as soon as they are posted. It also brought up concerns over the spread of fake news that is usually an organised effort that leads to the targeted harassment of women. Twitter said that it was working with experts and that it is open to suggestions to make the platform better. The panel met representatives from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp yesterday (5 December) to talk about the same issues on the platforms. We will be reporting the developments of the meeting once we have all the details.