IT Rules Amendments: Internet Can’t Be Party To Deliberate Misinformation, Says MoS IT

After the government notified the amendments to IT Rules, 2021 on Friday, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government aims to make the internet open, safe, and trusted. 

“Our mission is to make internet open, safe and trusted. As per amended rules, an intermediary has to ensure that no unlawful content is posted online. Internet can’t be party to deliberate misinformation,” news agency ANI quoted Chandrasekhar as saying. 

While the government released the draft amendments to IT Rules, 2021 in June, the rules have now come into effect following the issuance of notification yesterday.

As per the amended rules, a grievance panel will be formed to hear complaints from users about content moderation decisions of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The government will form one or more centrally appointed Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) within three months of the notification. 

“The Central Government shall, by notification, establish one or more Grievance Appellate Committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022,” the notification said.

As per the amended rules, the GACs will consist of a chairperson and two whole time members appointed by the central government. Of the three members, one will be an ex-officio member and two will be independent members.

Social media users dissatisfied with the response of a social media intermediary’s grievance officer can appeal before the government-appointed GACs within a period of 30 days, which will try to resolve the issue in the next 30 days. 

As part of the amendments, the social media platforms will have to acknowledge user complaints within 24 hours and resolve such complaints within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt.

The intermediaries will also have to ‘prominently’ publish rules and regulations, privacy policy, and user agreement in English and other major Indian languages. 

“The intermediary shall prominently publish on its website, mobile based application or both, as the case may be, the rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement in English or any language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution for access or usage of its computer resource by any person in the language of his choice and ensure compliance of the same,” the notification said.

The amendments to IT Rules were widely criticised by industry experts and opposed by tech giants. Many industry bodies questioned the independence of the panel and how it would increase the government’s control over the social media platforms. 

The US-India Business Council and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum wrote to the government, expressing their concerns over the independence of the appellate forum.

Over the last two years, major social media platforms have been under increased government scrutiny. Twitter is currently involved in a legal battle with the Centre over some of the takedown orders issued by the government.