Read the ERC blog post here.
“The Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) expressed serious concern over the lack of transparency surrounding Meta’s decision to block access in India to an Instagram reel linked to its cross-border investigation into the environmental and social impacts of data center expansion,” an ERC blog post said, condemning Meta for taking down a two-minute journalistic documentary featuring farmers discussing Google’s AI data center, whose construction had already begun.
“The lack of clarity surrounding this restriction raises broader concerns about the mechanisms through which journalistic content can be limited from public view, especially when such reporting addresses issues of significant public interest,” said the collective, a global network of journalists and newsrooms from at least nine countries dedicated to environmental reporting.
What is the reel about? You can watch the reel Meta deleted here: [Video].
- The two-minute short documentary features villagers and farmers from Tarluvada village in Andhra Pradesh (AP), who allege that land originally given to landless peasants during the Indira Gandhi regime is now being forcibly acquired by the authorities through threats and coercion to build a Google data center near Visakhapatnam.
- “We were not told anything about a data center,” said a villager in the video. She claimed that authorities were threatening them over their land.
ERC’s statements:
- ERC has not received any detailed explanation regarding the legal basis, policy rationale, or specific complaint that led to the restriction of the content in India. It further stated that on May 22, at approximately 2 pm, ERC received a notification that the reel, which had garnered 2.6 million views, was no longer available in India.
- “ERC stands firmly behind the reporting and editorial processes underpinning this investigation and accompanying video. The work was produced through a rigorous journalistic process involving extensive field reporting, documentation, interviews with affected communities and relevant stakeholders, editorial review, fact-checking, and cross-border collaboration among experienced journalists and partner newsrooms,” it said in a blog post condemning what it described as arbitrary censorship.
Read Indian professional content creators’ experience on arbitrary takedowns and blocking orders from MediaNama’s discussion on IT Rules and online free speech: [Link]
What is Google’s data center deal in AP: Google aims to build a 1-GW hyperscale Google AI Data Centre on 601.4 acres of land in three locations. Some key details:
- What Google plans to do with this data center in AP: The AI infrastructure is intended to support businesses, developers, and researchers, and to establish a subsea gateway that complements existing landings in Mumbai and…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
