Koo

The new feature empowers the users to prove the authenticity of their accounts on the platform, hence lending credibility to the thoughts and opinions that they share. Voluntary self-verification promotes visibility of genuine voices.

The report in compliance with the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) for June 2021 shows that of the 5,502 Koos reported by the Community, 22.7 per cent (1,253) were removed, while other action was taken against the rest -- 4,249.

A furious Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) warned Twitter that failure to adhere to the norms will lead the platform to lose exemption from liability under the Information Technology Act. Such loss of exemption will expose Team Dorsey, including Dorsey himself, to multiple headaches under the IT Act, 2000, as well as other penal provisions of the land.

Koo has garnered nearly 60 lakh downloads in just a year of operations. "We have aggressive plans to grow into one of the world's largest social media platforms in the next few years. Every Indian is cheering for us to get there soon. Tiger Global is the right partner to have on board to realise this dream," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder and CEO of Koo.

The ministry has asked social media platform to abide by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 else face action. Koo said it has close to 6 million downloads which makes it a major social media intermediary. "Complying with the new social media guidelines published by the government of India within time clearly shows why it's important to have Indian social media players thriving in the country," said Aprameya Radhakrishna.

Called ‘Talk to Type,' the feature will help Koo users speak out their thoughts and the words will show up on the screen at the click of a button. "This ‘Talk to Type' feature is magical and takes creation for regional language creators to the next level. Users don't have to use the keyboard anymore and type out lengthy thoughts," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-founder, Koo.

"Koo is fully owned by Bombinate Technologies Pvt Ltd and domiciled in India. All data and associated servers are also run out of India. The team is headquartered in Bengaluru," the Koo team explained. Shunwei, the lone global venture capital firm with China links in the Koo structure, has "committed to exiting the company".