Time to be Accountable
India Legal|August 2, 2021
The micro-blogging platform’s refusal to conform to amended IT rules led the centre to approach the Delhi High Court, which pulled it up. The company has now asked for more time to comply with the rules
Time to be Accountable
INDIA’S recently enforced law, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021, will regulate the functioning of online media portals and publishers and social media companies like Facebook and Twitter.

According to the amended IT rules, social media and streaming companies will be required to take down contentious content quicker and appoint grievance redressal officers in the country to deal with content flagged by authorities and courts and assist in investigations.

For the past several months, Twitter has been involved in a stand-off with the government over the new amendments in the country’s new IT laws, with the micro-blogging platform losing its intermediary status and becoming liable for user-generated content.

On July 5, the centre filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court, accusing Twitter of failing to comply with the IT rules, which it described as the “law of the land”. “In spite of three months’ time granted to all significant social media intermediaries to comply with the IT Rules, 2021, Twitter Inc has failed to comply with the same,” the centre said in its affidavit in the High Court.

The affidavit further said that Twitter had not appointed a chief compliance officer, resident grievance officer and nodal contact person (even on an interim basis), and was not showing a physical contact address on its website as mandated under the rules. IT rules are “law of the land”, which the San Fran cisco-headquartered company has to comply with. Any non-compliance amounts to a breach of the provisions of IT rules, thereby leading to Twitter losing immunity conferred under Section 79(1) of IT Act, 2000.

This story is from the August 2, 2021 edition of India Legal.

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This story is from the August 2, 2021 edition of India Legal.

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