New Delhi: For those active on various social media platforms, time may have arrived to stay without it. People active on Twitter handles, Facebook and Instagram may suddenly see the platforms not working from Wednesday. Well things are looking ominous indeed for these social media platforms operating in India.
A set of Central rules to regulate digital content featuring a code of ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal framework come into effect in two days. And till now none of the social media giants – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have implemented the rules, government sources said Monday. These rules for news sites and OTT platforms were announced in February. They were given three months to implement the rules, but most have not done so far. According to sources, if the companies fail to follow the rules, their intermediary status can be ended. They also may face criminal action.
“Though they claim the protection of being an intermediary but they exercise their discretion to also modify and adjudicate upon the content through their own norms without any reference to Indian Constitution and laws,” sources were quoted as saying by NDTV.
The rules said that India-based compliance officials have to be appointed with their names and contact addresses. Monitoring of objectionable content and its removal will also have to be implemented according to the rules.
Under the new laws, the oversight mechanism will include a committee with representatives from Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home, I&B, Law, IT and Women and Child Development. It will have ‘suo motu powers’ to call hearings on complaints of violation of the Code of Ethics if it wants.
The government while, forming the rules had said its aim was to establish what it called a ‘soft touch progressive institutional mechanism with a level-playing field’.
Notifying the rules on February 25, The Electronics & Information Technology Ministry notified the rules February 25. It gave the social media platforms three months to comply with the rules. The last date for implementing the rules is May 25.
So far, no company except for one has appointed any such officials, sources said. Some platforms have asked for a six-month deadline, saying they were waiting for instructions from their headquarters in the US.
“These companies are working in India, making profits from India but wait for a green signal from the headquarters to follow guidelines,” sources said. Companies like Twitter, they said, keep their own fact checkers that neither identify nor reveal how the facts are being investigated. So some strict steps are on the cards, they added.
