[ad_1]
The government of India this week notified the rules under which it will set up appeal committees to address grievances that users may face against decisions of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook over hosting controversial content.
A three-member grievance appeals committee will be appointed within three months, according to a newspaper notice issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, on a day shaken by big tech by Elon Musk who finally became the owner of Twitter.
In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Information Technology Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar said that major tech companies operating in India must abide by Indians’ constitutional right to non-discrimination, right to freedom of expression, and right to privacy no matter where they are based.
He added that social media networks will be obligated to remove any “disinformation”, illegal content or content that promotes bad faith between different groups based on religion or sect with the intent of inciting violence within 72 hours of being reported.
“We are the largest connected democracy in the world today and we will be the largest connected country by 2025 with 120 Crore online. So, in many ways, we are playing a leadership role and showing the way to the world by making our cyberspace a safe and trusted place.”
IT Rules 2021
The 2021 IT (Broker Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Ethics) rules set out compliance requirements for major social media brokers — platforms with more than 5 million subscribers — such as the designation of a Chief Compliance Officer, a contract point for coordination and a grievance officer.
It also asked social media networks to identify the first source of information on their platform. Implemented a three-tier system to deal with complaints about online broadcast and news services.
Intra-organizational grievances are dealt with at the first level, a self-regulatory body at the second level, and a government-run committee at the third level, which can overturn any decision made by the other two bodies.
The 2021 rules require platforms to be extra careful when it comes to the content they host. The platform’s redress mechanism grievance officer was responsible for receiving and resolving user complaints. They were expected to acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 24 hours and deal with it appropriately within 15 days.
Additionally, the law states that the privacy policies of social media platforms must ensure that users are made aware not to circulate copyrighted material and anything that could be interpreted as defamatory, racially or ethnically objectionable, child-loving, or threatening the unity, integrity, defense, security, or sovereignty of India or violation of any contemporary law.
What do the modifications say?
The amendments brought about a new Grievance Appeals Committee (GAC). Those dissatisfied with the decisions of the social media ombudsman can appeal to the GAC under the Information Technology Amendment Rules (Broker Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Act), 2022
According to the notification, GAC decisions will be binding on the social media companies or brokers. Furthermore, the revised rules include an online dispute resolution mechanism.
Aside from monitoring the type of content posted online, these brokers are now also responsible for informing their users of these rules, regulations and privacy policies at least once a year.
The new rules state that if there is a complaint about a post, moderators must acknowledge the report within 24 hours, resolve it within 15 days, and remove the post within 72 hours. Furthermore, anyone who is not satisfied with the resolution of their complaint has 30 days to contact the GAC. The GAC will make an effort to resolve the appeal within 30 days.
In a press conference, Information Technology Minister Chandrasekhar said a new addition to the rules states that platforms must now make efforts to ensure that “no illegal content is posted on the platform.” The broad category of obligations that brokers have to follow includes misinformation.
“The new rules make it clear that no matter where your jurisdiction is, if you are rendering your service to an Indian national, Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution cannot be weakened or disregarded,” he said.
Read all files Latest technology news over here
[ad_2]
Source link
