MeitY Launches GAC To Address User Complaints Against Social Media Firms

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC), that was mandated under the amendments brought in by the government in IT Rules, 2021, to address the complaints of users against social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

The GAC will work as a faceless dispute resolution mechanism that would make digital platforms – big and small, accountable to ‘Digital Nagriks’, the Ministry of Information Technology and Electronics (MeitY) said in a statement.

“The GACs will work in the most transparent manner and all their decisions will be uploaded on a website and (will be) accessible to the public,” the minister said during the launch.

Chandrasekhar said that the GAC is an important part of the government’s overall efforts to make the internet ‘open, safe, trusted’ and the digital platforms accountable. It will create a culture of disclosure and public scrutiny, he added.

“It is an extension of our government’s views, policies and vision about creating easier ways of resolving disputes,” he added.

The minister reiterated that the vision behind the GAC is to ensure that the grievance redressal mechanism of the intermediaries work effectively.

The GAC has been established under the revised Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, also known as the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

Three such bodies have been constituted comprising professionals from various fields. The committees would have a chairperson and two whole-time members.

Social media users who are dissatisfied with the actions of the grievance officers of these platforms can take their complaints to the GACs instead of going to courts against the decision of such platforms.

The formation of the GACs is part of the Indian government’s moves to make social media platforms and big tech companies accountable.

Apart from the establishment of GAC, social media intermediaries have to prominently publish on their website, mobile based application or both, the rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement in English or any language specified in the Eighth Schedule, as per the amendments to the IT Rules, 2021.

Last month, MeitY also proposed new amendments, which will require social media intermediaries to remove content flagged as fake or false by the central government’s fact-checking mechanisms.

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