With the deadline to comply with the new legal rules issued by the government for big social media platforms ending on Tuesday, there’s a buzz that the operations of the likes of Twitter and Facebook may stop in India.
According to top official sources, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and others, which were required to abide by the rules notified in the gazette of India on 25 February under Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, have failed to comply on many accounts till date. The Indian version of Twitter, Koo, is the only social media app that has complied with the new guidelines ahead of the deadline.
On 25 February, the Centre framed the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, in the exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011, which will come into effect from 26 May.
If social media platforms do not comply with the new rules by 25 May, they will lose their status and protections as intermediaries and criminal action can be taken against them as per the laws of India, a government official said in a statement. The US-based companies had asked for six months time as they are waiting for a response from the US headquarters.
Revealing whether Facebook will comply with the rules or not, a company spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday, “We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. Pursuant to the IT rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies.”
Briefing the media about the new rules on 25 February, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that though the government welcomes criticism and the right to dissent, “but it is very important for the users of social media to have a forum to raise their grievance against the misuse of social media”.
Under the new rules, social media platforms will have to have a grievance redressal mechanism, they will also have to name a grievance officer who shall register the grievance within 24 hours and disposal in 15 days. The government had said that if there are complaints against the dignity of users, particularly women—about exposed private parts of individuals or nudity or sexual act or impersonation, etc—social media platforms will be required to remove that within 24 hours after a complaint is made.
As per the guidelines, first, the social media platforms will have to have a chief compliance officer residing in India responsible for ensuring compliance with the act and the rules. Second is a nodal contact person, who should reside in India for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies. Also, social media platforms have to appoint a resident grievance officer who shall perform the grievance redressal mechanism as indicated. They also will have to publish a monthly report about the number of complaints received and the status of redressal.
The streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime and others will have to appoint a grievance redressal officer based in India who will take care of the complaints and act on them in 15 days. The government has been of the view that social media platforms do not have a code of self-regulation. Therefore, it wants the companies to include representatives from the various ministries and form a committee to regulate the content.
The new rules also mention that the committee will have the sole power to take actions on complaints of the violation of codes.