Following concerns that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will be banned in India due to non-compliance with the Centre’s new guidelines under the Information Technology Act, which were notified on February 25, businesses responded on Tuesday by claiming they were working to comply with the new criteria.
On February 25, the new guidelines were announced, and social media platforms were allowed three months to implement them, which concluded on May 25. This deadline has not been extended in any way. If the companies do not follow the rules, they will lose their intermediate status and may face legal action, according to the standards.
New Rules
These social media behemoths will need to designate a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person, and resident grievance officer because they are not headquartered in India.
Within 36 hours, these sites must remove any materials detected by authorities. A comprehensive complaint redressal procedure would be overseen by an officer stationed in India.
A monthly compliance report detailing the resolution of complaints will be required to be published. If a message spread on a social media site threatens India’s sovereignty, the social media company will be required to identify the statement’s first creator.
In reference to this context, the Google spokesperson said, “ We realise that our work in keeping our platforms secure is never done and we will continue to refine our existing approaches, and evolve our policies and be as transparent as possible about how we make decisions.”
The spokesperson said that the business is committed to combatting illicit content in an “effective and fair” manner. It is also attempting to comply with local legislation by investing in product revisions, resources, and staff on a regular basis.
Facebook, which also owns Instagram, has stated that it is working to put the regulations in place. It’s also talking to the government about a few issues. According to PTI, Facebook has implemented voluntary verification, grievance resolution, and a 24-hour timeframe for removing flagged information.
Twitter has not responded to questions about its official compliance with the guidelines.
With 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crores Instagram users, and 1.75 crore Twitter users, India is a tremendous market for these social media giants.
