New rules to protect online users: Minister
New Delhi, October 29
The notification of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules-2022 will not just change how social media operates in India, but also cover online payments and service providers, social media companies Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, search engines like Google, online marketing companies and telecom service providers.
Law of the land is supreme. Intermediary to ensure accessibility of its services to all users and respect their rights under the Constitution of India. Ashwini Vaishnaw, IT Minister
The definition applies to any company where the user has an identity in the intermediary in the form of a unique account or a number.
Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw today tweeted: “Law of the land is supreme. Intermediary to ensure accessibility of its services to all users and respect their rights under the Constitution of India”.
The notification will pave the way for setting up of grievance appellate panels. The Central Government will establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months. Each grievance appellate committee (GAC) will comprise a chairperson and two whole-time members appointed by the Central Government. The committees will be authorities to pass directions to social media companies to remove any content. Complaints against — social media companies — for displaying obscene, pornographic content, besides the content that threatens unity and integrity of India, will be the domain of the committees.
A user can appeal to the internal mechanism set up by social media platforms to address complaints regarding content. If the user in not satisfied by the response of the internal mechanism, he or she can approach the government-appointed grievance appellate committee within a period of 30 days. The committee will aim to resolve the issue within 30 days and is permitted to seek assistance from experts.
The committees will give a chance for complaint settlement without the users needing to approach courts. The committees will adopt online dispute resolution mechanism. The appeal process, filing of appeal and decision making will be done digitally.
Under the new rules, social media firms will be required to acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve those within 15 days. — TNS
Making social media accountable
- The notification will pave the way for setting up of grievance appellate committees
- Complaints for content that’s obscene, threatens integrity will be under panels’ domain
- The panels will be authorities to pass directions to companies to remove any content
