The buzz on May 25th was about social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook getting banned if they failed to comply with the the new IT guidelines. The new rules, which were announced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, require the platforms to appoint compliance officers from India. These officers will have to oversee the various complaints and take action within 15 days. They will also have to appoint a nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer as representatives from the Indian ministry. These rules have been announced to hold the social media platforms more accountable and have them take more responsibility for the content posted.
There was a three-month deadline given to these platforms to accept and implement the rules which ended on May 25th, 2021. Facebook said they aimed to comply with the new rules but they were waiting to hear back from the headquarters in US. A spokesperson from Facebook said, “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.”
Koo, an Indian social media app, was the only app who confirmed that they will follow the rules. All the other apps requested a six-month time gap before implementation.
But, was there ever going to be a complete ban of the sites if they failed to comply? No.
Not following these rules would not have resulted in a ban but a loss of intermediary status, which means that these platforms will be criminally liable for any content seen as illegal on their platform.
Experts were quick to criticize the hastiness of the Modi government in providing only a three month deadline to implement the rules. This was compared to the European Union giving companies 2 years to become compliant with the rules of General Data Protection Regulation.
Nikhil Pahwa, digital rights activist and founder of Medianama said, These IT rules are not an attack on American big tech. They are an attack on the internet. They are unconstitutional. They affect every entity, whether Indian or international, and they affect every Indian user. These rules need to go. They go beyond the ambit of what the law allows and I hope the supreme court will strike down rules for what they are.”
WhatsApp, who moved to sue the government to remove these regulations, said that these new rules will require them to track every single message. They said in a blogpost,
“In doing so, a government that chooses to mandate traceability is effectively mandating a new form of mass surveillance”.
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