The Centre announced changes to its information technology rules giving itself powers to override decisions of top social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and other internet firms to suspend, block or remove accounts of users over various violations, moving ahead with a proposal that has rattled internet giants.
The government had been working on the new rules for the past nearly five months after they were proposed through draft amendments to last year’s contentious Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
The measure which gives overriding powers to the government through setting up a grievance panel is seen as a huge setback for the social media companies that have been under regulatory fire in India over their content moderation practices and other decisions.
The Centre had, in February 2021, notified the IT Rules (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), 2021 for social media apps, online news portals, news aggregators and OTT platforms. However, even after providing for the redressal mechanism through the IT Rules, 2021, many user grievances remained unresolved, prompting the government to step in and propose an appellate jurisdiction framework.
Govt to form social media grievance appellate panels
Under the new rules, a three-member Grievance Appellate Committee(s) will be set up within a period of three months, a gazette notification issued by MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) said.
“The Central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022,” the notification said.
Each grievance appellate committee will consist of a chairperson and two whole-time members appointed by the Central government, of which one will be a member ex-officio and two shall be independent members.“The focus of the amendment of intermediary guidelines is on the protection of online users,” IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Twitter.
As per the new rules, if a person’s social media account faces action from a company and he or she fails to get any satisfactory redressal from its grievance officer, the user can file an appeal with GAC within 30 days. The GAC will deal with the appeals “expeditiously and attempt to resolve it within 30 calendar days”, the new rules say.
The new guidelines also state that while dealing with the appeal, the GAC may seek assistance from any person having requisite qualification, experience and expertise in the subject matter. “Every order passed by the Grievance Appellate Committee shall be complied with by the intermediary (social media platforms) concerned and a report to that effect shall be uploaded on its website,” the rules stipulate.
“The GAC shall adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism wherein the entire appeal process, from filing of appeal to the decision thereof, shall be conducted through digital mode,” the rules add.
Govt can ask internet giants to remove content on users’ complaint
The Centre has also given itself powers to direct social media platforms to take down or moderate certain contentious content on users’ complaints.
As per the new rules, a person could now file an appeal with the government’s appellate panels, if they have grievances against decisions of social media platforms on hosting contentious content.
The government has, in the new rules, added objectionable religious content (with intent to incite violence) alongside pornography, trademark infringements, fake information and something that could be a threat to sovereignty of the nation that users can flag to social media platforms.
The amendments provide for social media platforms to acknowledge user complaints within 24 hours, and resolve them within 15 days thereafter and take down certain contentious content within 72 hours of reporting.
The complaints could range from child sexual abuse material to nudity to trademark and patent infringements, misinformation, impersonation of another person, content threatening the unity and integrity of the country as well as “obectionable” content that promotes “enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion or caste with the intent to incite violence”.
