The deadline to comply with new legal rules meant for big social media platforms were issued by the government three months back and it is ending on Tuesday, this threatening the operations of Twitter likes in India. The new rules also mentions that the committee will have the sole power to take actions on complaints of the violation of codes.
As per the top official sources, social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and others were required to follow the rules notified in the gazette of India on February 25 under the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media ethics code 2021 which they have failed to comply on many accounts till date.
It is from May 26 that government rules will come into effect. The top official sources have said that, ” If the 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.”
It is except one Indian social media company, Koo, the sources have said that none of the top social media intermediaries have appointed a resident grievance officer, a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person yet.
Sources have also said that the failure of social media companies to make these appointments in three months has not gone down well with the government.
With the view of arbitrary suspensions of accounts and inaction over bigotry and abuses over the social media platforms, the users in India have been continuously complaining against tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and others.
In the recent alleged Congress toolkit controversy, Delhi Police visited Twitter India’s local offices in the National Capital Region on Monday soon after Twitter had marked one of the tweets of BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as “manipulated media”.
The presumptive judgement from Twitter has triggered widespread outrage among Indian users across the country.
Sources have also said that social media platforms which were required to furnish monthly reports as to how many grievances were filed and settled, have failed to do so. A few platforms have sought more time of up to six months for furnishing compliance.
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.”
