As the deadline to comply withthe latest intermediary guidelines ended on May 25, the GoI on May 26 wrote tosocial media giants to revert if they had complied with the new digital rulesthat came into effect today.
The Centre has asked all thesocial media platforms to share their response “ASAP, preferably today.”
It may be noted here thatsocial media giants like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter were given thethree-month time to accept the new rules that ask them to appoint a complianceofficer in India, nodal officer, and a grievance officer to remove any flaggedcontent with 36 hours of a legal order.
In a letter issued to thesocial media platforms, the Ministry of Electronics and IT asked the companiesto give information on the status of compliance and emphasized, “Please confirmand share your response ASAP and preferably today itself.”
Under the new rules, the techcompanies have to give the name and contact details of a chief complianceofficer, a nodal contact person, a resident grievance officer, and a physicaladdress of the company in India. These officers will have to set up a grievanceredressal mechanism to respond to complaints.
These latest norms will alsoallow officers to trace the first originator of information found to “underminethe sovereignty of India, security of the state,or public order.”
Apparently, nowthe social media companies will no longer enjoy the status of intermediaries thatgive them legal immunity from objectionable content posted by users. From nowon, they will be treated as just a normal publishing platform and can face alegal action.
It may be noted here, Facebook and Google have said theywill ensure compliance. Moreover, Facebook has also stated that it wants todiscuss some "issues which need more engagement".
On the other hand, Twitter has not responded to the new stormyet as it is engulfed in the "Congress toolkit" tweet controversy.