Koo CEO backs Elon Musk’s proposal of changes for Twitter

Micro-blogging site Koo is already following most of the features Elon Musk is proposing for his new buy-out Twitter. The home-grown micro-blogging site already has Musk’s ‘proposed’ free speech features, self-verification process for a green tick, an edit button and algorithms made public for transparency, Co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said.

Two-year-old Koo, currently, has over 30 million registered users and around 7-8 million monthly active users (MAU). Almost 80 per cent of its users are interacting in vernacular languages that the platform offers and calls its USP.

Speaking to BusinessLine, Radhakrishna said, “Some of the things that Musk has been proposing, we already have on our platform. He has been talking about an edit button, we have it. He plans to validate people, we have self-verification system in place using Aadhaar. We have always said every person is welcomed, everything they have said have been accepted for the two years we exist. We have made our algorithms public, Musk has been talking about making it open source.”

He added, “If you look at social media from a first principle perspective, what is good for society and as a social media company, I think these are the most obvious things that people should do and we are doing most of it. So, do I agree with his (Musk’s) principles? I would say we are already following those principles. Yes, he has a larger influence because he is one of the richest men in the world. People think he said it first every time, but I think we have already followed most of what he is proposing to do.”

According to Radhakrishna, the challenge for Twitter, going forward, will be to implement those proposed changes as the social media giant already has a way of working globally and with its size. He said that all that needs to be changed, including the right ways of governing, will take time.

“We, as a platform, will continue progressing in the most-efficient manner to ensure that social media is a safer and unbiased place,” he said.

Supports Musk’s idea of free speech

When asked how the platform differentiates from global rival Twitter, he said that Koo won’t ban any one, especially a person of significance. The platform would instead manage the situation on a post-on-post basis.

He said, “As an opinion platform, the platform itself can’t have an opinion. Every action and product feature must make the user feel that this platform doesn’t have an opinion of its own. For instance, the most basic thing is language communities on Koo. For a person who talks in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi will feel judged when they go on an English-dominated platform for speaking their language. On Koo, they won’t.”

He added, “Irrespective of views on politics, cricket, movies or anything, you can say it on Koo whoever you are. The only thing that is our guiding principle is we live in a democratic country and there’s a law of land in the offline world. And whatever we do online will also follow the same law of land. Just because you are online and can say whatever you feel like, this also comes with the responsibility of how you say it. You can disagree with someone, but don’t abuse. You can say what you want, but in a respectful manner. All of these things we keep imbibing to the product through features.”

Content moderation

Koo follows community guidelines which are a reflection of the law of land, Radhakrishna said. Hate speech, pornography, nudity and hate speech against a religion is not allowed on the platform.

“There are only a few things which are in the grey area. Some statements for some people might be freedom of speech; for others it might be hate speech, that needs to be handled with care. Those scenarios for micro-blogging platform with so many opinions will come time to time,” he said.

“Banning people outright from platform — we’ll never do it, unless you are a consistent and habitual offender. Otherwise to ban someone of significance outright after they have garnered followers on the platform and not allowing them to talk to them at all is something we don’t do. If they post something wrong, that will be dealt upon at that post level,” Radhakrishna said.

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