Indiansare actually scratching their heads to know the rationale behind the ban ofmost-used social media applications Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagramfrom tomorrow. So here we will tell you why these social media giants could notbe allowed to function in India.
Primarily,the Government of India has formulated a set of new guidelines for the socialmedia platforms and rolled those out on February 25, allowing three-month timeto comply with it. Apparently, time allotted by the Ministry of Electronics& Information Technology ends on May 25 by 11:59 pm.
So far,however, none of the platforms have agreed to the new regulations despite thefact that these new rules will come into effect from May 26 onwards. Also, thecompanies have sought a total six-month delay for the implementation of newrules.
If noneof these companies accept the guidelines, they might lose their status associal media platforms and protections as intermediaries. Apart from this, theGoI can also take up legal action against them as per the law of the land fornot abiding by the rules, said a government official.
Amidstall this hue and cry, Facebook has said that it will comply with the IT rules.
“We aimto comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few ofthe issues which need more engagement with the government. According to the ITrules, we are working to implement operational processes and improveefficiencies. Facebook remains committed to people's ability to freely andsafely express themselves on our platform," said an official spokespersonof the company in a statement.
It ispertinent to mention here, indigenous app Koo, which is alike Twitter, has justgive its consent to comply with the GoI’s guidelines.
Here’swhat comes under the new guidelines:
1. Social media giants must appoint a chief compliance officer,nodal contact person and resident grievance officer
2. A grievance officer’s appointment is a significant requirementonce the new rules come into effect. He would look after the complaints on thepublic interface and would acknowledge the need for a system for requests
3. Removal of content flagged by authorities within 36 hours andsetting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism
4. These companieswill also have to publish a monthly compliance report which will divulgedetails of complaints received and action taken on them along with the detailsof content removed
5. Theseplatforms will also have to publish a physical contact address on its websiteor mobile app, or both