Feb 4, 2022
Koo: India's Twitter alternative with global ambitions
Koo, which caters primarily to non-English users in India, launched in early 2020. With "Koos" being generated every second, moderation is hard, as is the case on other social media platforms, including Twitter. According to Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist, there is a clear rationale for Mr Modi's government to promote Koo as a homegrown, even "Nationalist" alternative to Twitter, so that it can create a "Soft landing spot" for itself, in case the need to ban Twitter arises in the future. Koo has a fair shot at success, he believes, if it can solve the issue of how best to moderate content, while creating a safe space for users, which Twitter has long struggled with. The app's requirement for authentication via a mobile phone number to register will also pose a challenge, Mr Pahwa says, because while it would allow Koo to moderate content better, it "Takes away the comfort of anonymity" that Twitter grants to its users.
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