Facebook, Twitter, Instagram may face ban in India as they don't comply with new IT rules yet

 

Logos of Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram

After may 25, Social media giants facebook, twitter, instagram, whatsapp may face ban in India as they don't comply with the new IT rules of India. In february 2021, Ministry of Electronics and Information technology had given a three month time to the social media giants for complying with these intermediary guidelines.

May 25 had been declared deadline for accepting the new rules set by the government. Only KOO app has complied with new rules so far. This is the app launched by Indian government as a desi version of Twitter. There are millions of users of these social media platforms in India. 

The reason of government behind the application of these rules is to make these platforms more responsible because the users of these platforms are increasing day by day. If companies don't comply with these rules then they may have lose their status and protection as intermediary. Criminal action can also be taken against them.

US based company said that deadline time should be six months as they are waiting for the response from the US headquarters. Facebook spokesperson said that company aim to comply with the new provisions but company wants to discuss a few issues which needs more engagement with the government. Company remains committed to people's ability to freely express themselves on our platform.

According to (Intermediary guidelines and digital media ethics code rules), social media giants are required to appoint compliance officer in India who will receive the complaints, monitor the data and delete that data which will be objectionable. Except KOO, no other company has appointed compliance officer yet.

Government has established these rules not only for social media platforms but also for OTT platforms. By complying new rules, government wants to stop the nudity on these platforms. If anyone will post objectionable content, compliance officer will remove that content.

According to the rules, company need to include representatives from various ministries and form a committee which will regulate the content and that committee can also take action solely on the violation of rules.