Oh oh, time is up
Social media giants Facebook and Twitter (even YouTube) might face criminal charges in India as they are yet to comply with the new IT Intermediary Rules. The new rules were passed by the government in February of this year.
Why is this?
The special provisions, which are put together under “additional due diligence” in the rules, require social media platforms with more than 50 lakh registered users to appoint a specific chief compliance officer for ensuring compliance with the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Adding to that, a nodal contact person has to be appointed who has to round-the-clock coordinate with law enforcement agencies, and a resident grievance officer to acknowledge grievances within 24 hours and respond to them within 15 days.
All three of these officers should also be Indian residents. In addition to these requirements, the social media platforms are required to have a physical contact address in India and must show the contact details of the appointed officers on their websites and apps.
Reports suggest that social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have not yet complied with the new Intermediary Rules.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting jointly introduced the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 on February 25 to put restrictions on digital platforms.
Despite the given three-month window for social media companies that include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to comply with the special provisions, there has been no development.
The new provisions also require social media platforms to have automated tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) driven mechanisms to remove objectionable content.
A Facebook spokesperson has issued a statement on this.
“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”.
What will happen?
Some social media platforms have already requested the Indian government to extend the timeline for the provisions.
Even Industry bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) have also asked for an extension of one year for the compliance window.
We believe the Indian government will not be making any decision to ban these companies from operating in India due to their non-compliance with these rules.
There will be an extension, of course, to provide some more time for the social media companies to come with an action plan and implement the new IT rules.
The Central government has not commented on any extension yet, so we will wait for further updates.
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