IT Rules Amendments: Social Media Appellate Panel To Have Independent Experts

The appellate committee to be formulated to address grievances of social media users under the latest amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 will reportedly largely consist of independent experts.

The government representation in the panel would only be restricted to one or two members, The Economic Times reported citing a senior official. 

The official also noted that it is unlikely that ‘any executives from social media intermediaries or internet companies’ will be included on the board of the appellate body.

Noting that the move will ensure ‘independent functioning’ of the committee, the official claimed that the forum would aim to provide users with a primary option to ‘appeal against the grievance redressal process of social media companies’ before approaching any court.

“We don’t want to direct Twitter or Facebook. (User grievances) should be addressed by the redressal forum or the reporting mechanism (set up by) big tech platforms,” the official added.

He said that if any fundamental right ‘is violated because of the power of the platform, then there should be a rule or an action on the part of the government that protects the citizen’, adding that the panel members will be there only to ‘coordinate’ with the industry. 

The New Amendments

The Centre on June 6 issued draft amendments to the new IT Rules to ‘steer through the challenges and gaps’ that exist in the current laws. 

The amendments were criticised by social media platforms and activists alike over a slew of issues. The biggest issues appears to be the mandate that necessitates social media platforms to ‘find the first originator of a text’ and to set up an ‘Oversight Committee’ to ensure adherence to the Ethics Code.

Platforms have claimed that the rules would lead the companies to break end-to-end encryption, adding that setting up a panel with a majority of members from the executive branch would defeat the purpose of the committee. Another matter at the centre of controversy is the proposal requiring platforms to act on content which is ‘defamatory’ as well as ‘misinformation’ on their platform.

Government officials reportedly held wide-ranging discussions with industry experts and representatives of the platforms over the course of last month and had asked them to submit their comments by July 6. 

As a result, more than 100 comments were received, primarily against creation of the appellate panel and provisions regarding putting more bonus on social media platforms for content moderations. 

The contentious draft has seen many influential industry bodies such as the US-India Business Council and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum writing to the government, expressing their concerns over the independence of the appellate forum constituted by the authorities.

The trade bodies have also highlighted that the new norms appear to be ‘broad’ and would make it difficult for companies to ‘demonstrate compliance’.

Meanwhile, the government is now reportedly completing the final draft of the new IT Rules, which could likely be ready ‘over the next fortnight’.