Wednesday, 26 May 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
3-month deadline given by Govt to accept IT rules ended on May 25
Social media giants like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram may be blocked in India as none of them have so far accepted the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeITY)’s new guidelines. The three-month deadline given by the Ministry to accept these guidelines ended on May 25. The new guidelines will be effective from May 26. In case of non-compliance, the Government could take criminal action against them.
The US-based companies had asked for six months’ time as they are waiting for a response from their US headquarters.
The new rules announced in February requires Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to follow additional due diligence, including appointment of a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer.
Facebook, meanwhile, has stated that they are working on the “operational process” so that they can comply with the Government of India’s new IT rules. Revealing whether Facebook will comply with the rules or not, a company spokesperson said in a statement, “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. Facebook remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platform.”
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 February 25 under Intermediary
Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, have failed to comply on many accounts till date.
The proposed regulations mandates them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and setting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.
“If social media companies do not obey the rules, they may lose their status and protections as intermediaries and may become liable for criminal action as per the existing laws of India,” top official sources said.
Except for one Indian social media firm, Koo, sources said none of the social media giants has appointed a resident grievance officer, a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person yet.
As per data cited by the Government, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram clients, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter. Koo has close to 60 lakh users, making it a major social media intermediary under the new guidelines.
Last week, Koo had said it has complied with the requirements of the new rules and its Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Community Guidelines now reflect the changes.
Sources said the failure of social media companies to make these appointments in three months has not gone down well with the government.
According to the new rules, the social media platforms will have to appoint a compliance officer from India. This officer will monitor the content, look after the complaints and remove the content if he finds it objectionable.
Even the OTT platforms too will have to appoint a redressal officer in India who will keep track on the complaints regarding the content and take action on the complaints within 10 days. On February 25, the Government had announced tighter regulations for social media firms, requiring them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and setting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.
