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Tag: IT Ministry

  • Govt serves ‘one last notice’ to Twitter to ‘immediately’ comply with IT rules

    New Delhi: The government on Saturday issued ‘one last notice’ to Twitter Inc asking it to immediately comply with the new IT rules, failing which it could face stern action and lose exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. This essentially means that the platform could be held responsible for content posted by the users.

    “The provisions for significant social media intermediaries under the Rules have already come into force on 26 May and it has been more than a week but Twitter has refused to comply with the provisions of these rules,” the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) wrote to Twitter’s deputy general counsel, Jim Baker on Saturday.

    According to the ministry, the US company has not informed about the details of the chief compliance officer. The resident grievance officer and nodal contact person nominated is not an employee of Twitter Inc in India, as required by rules. Furthermore, the office address of Twitter Inc shared by the company is that of a law firm in India, which is also not as per rules.

    Twitter’s refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated its “lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform,” it said. The ministry highlighted that the US tech giant has been operational in India for over a decade and “it is beyond belief that it has still doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources.”

    Though with effect from 26 May, “consequences follow” given Twitter’s non-compliance with rules, however, the ministry wrote, as a “gesture of goodwill”, it is giving Twitter Inc one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which it will be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India.

    The new IT (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) rules, 2021, recommend a three-tier mechanism for regulation of all online media. As per the rules, each significant social media intermediary is required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and a resident grievance officer. All three should be resident Indians.

    The intermediaries are also required to prominently publish on their website, app or both, the name of the grievance officer and his/her contact details as well as the mechanism by which a user or a victim may make a complaint. The grievance officer would be required to acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days from its receipt. The government has also asked the significant social media intermediaries providing services primarily in the nature of messaging “to enable identification of the first originator of the information.”

  • Twitter complies with new IT rules

    Twitter complies with new IT rules

    New Delhi: The social media giant Twitter on Monday told the Delhi high court that it has appointed the grievance redressal officer, as required under the new IT (guidelines for intermediaries and digital media ethics code) rules, 2021.

    The court was hearing a plea by one Amit Acharya, alleging that Twitter India has not complied with the IT Rules, according to which it was required to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer, Nodal Officer and Chief Compliance officer to look into any complaints against the platform.

    Appearing on behalf of the US company, senior advocate Sajan Poovayya shared a letter dated 28 May, claiming that the company has already made the requisite appointment. However, the claim was disputed by the petitioner who argued that Twitter’s GRO details could not be found when a complaint was sought to be made against certain objectionable tweets, The Indian Express reported. He also alleged that the microblogging platform has appointed a US resident as the Grievance Officer, contradictory to what the IT rules mandated.

    During the course of hearing, the court has also made it clear that “if the rules have not been stayed then they have to be complied with”.  It issued a notice to Twitter and gave the company three weeks to put the details on record. The case was adjourned for next hearing on July 6.

    The government had released a circular on 26 May enquiring about compliance with the said rules by all SSMIs under the Rules. As per the rules, each significant social media intermediary is required to appoint a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies. He/she would be required to acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days from its receipt.

    All three should be resident Indians. They will also have to publish a monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken. The intermediaries are also required to prominently publish on their website, app or both, the name of the grievance officer and his/her contact details as well as the mechanism by which a user or a victim may make a complaint.

  • WhatsApp declines tracking message source in India

    WhatsApp declines tracking message source in India

    MUMBAI: WhatsApp has rejected the Indian goverment’s demand for a solution to track the origin of messages on its platform, saying building traceability will undermine end-to-end encryption and affect privacy protection for users.

    Earlier this week, Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, during his meeting with the WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels, had suggested that the social media company find the source of “fake” news and WhatsApp forwards. He said that the government has asked WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and find a technology solution to trace the origin of fake messages circulated through its platform as well as appoint a grievance officer.

    Prasad acknowledged the role played by the Facebook-owned company in India’s digital story, but was stern that WhatsApp could face abetment charges if it did not take action to tackle the issue of fake news being circulated on its platform.

    WhatsApp is under scrutiny in India after the circulation of fake news and rumours on its platform were blamed for several incidents of mob violence and lynchings. The company has since announced several measures – such as introducing a ‘forwarded’ label for messages as well as a limit on how many people a message can be shared with at once.

    What makes the rumours problem worse on WhatsApp is its sheer scale in India. The Facebook-owned messaging app is the most popular choice for users in India with the over 200 million active users in the market. The company had also revealed that India is the one market where forwarding messages is very popular. It recently announced an update to limit WhatsApp forwards to just five chats in India. In global markets, it is testing a limit of 20 chats for forwards.

  • Mittal wants self-regulation for new media, Rathore says IT Act adequate

    Mittal wants self-regulation for new media, Rathore says IT Act adequate

    NEW DELHI: Even as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore categorically told Parliament earlier this month that his Ministry was not contemplating any regulatory framework for censorship of content appearing on the internet, Secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Centre is concerned about new media in the absence of a regulatory framework.

    Speaking in Kolkata at the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI), Mittal said

    “An important area of challenge in the new media is that there is unfortunately no regulatory framework. What you cannot see on TV or hear on your radio, it is all possibly up there in open access.”

    Mittal said much more was needed to be done to prepare the government and its officers to deal with the “completely new paradigm of digital media”.

    He said the Ministry was discussing with the state governments and “we are now going to train their people in the information sector so that they can deal with the challenges created by new media that is causing a whole lot of concern.”

    Mittal said questions have also been raised in Parliament on “this issue of digital media without any boundaries. We are very clear that in the media space the best form of regulation is self regulation and the government would like to keep away as far as possible.”

    Rathore had said in reply to a question about censoring new platforms for publication and broadcasting of media content like social networks and online video services that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 provides for blocking access to information under specific conditions. He said the Act has provisions for removal of objectionable online content.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) rules 2011 require that the Intermediaries shall observe due diligence while discharging their duties and shall inform the users of computer resources not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, affects minors and is unlawful in any way.

    As far as OTT was concerned, sources in the ministry told indiantelevision.com that this was still a new subject, and the government would take action in the event of any complaints from viewers and subscribers.

    The Ministry, sources said, has no control over films appearing online as this falls in the ambit of the IT Act which is administered by IT Ministry.

  • Mittal wants self-regulation for new media, Rathore says IT Act adequate

    Mittal wants self-regulation for new media, Rathore says IT Act adequate

    NEW DELHI: Even as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore categorically told Parliament earlier this month that his Ministry was not contemplating any regulatory framework for censorship of content appearing on the internet, Secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Centre is concerned about new media in the absence of a regulatory framework.

    Speaking in Kolkata at the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI), Mittal said

    “An important area of challenge in the new media is that there is unfortunately no regulatory framework. What you cannot see on TV or hear on your radio, it is all possibly up there in open access.”

    Mittal said much more was needed to be done to prepare the government and its officers to deal with the “completely new paradigm of digital media”.

    He said the Ministry was discussing with the state governments and “we are now going to train their people in the information sector so that they can deal with the challenges created by new media that is causing a whole lot of concern.”

    Mittal said questions have also been raised in Parliament on “this issue of digital media without any boundaries. We are very clear that in the media space the best form of regulation is self regulation and the government would like to keep away as far as possible.”

    Rathore had said in reply to a question about censoring new platforms for publication and broadcasting of media content like social networks and online video services that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 provides for blocking access to information under specific conditions. He said the Act has provisions for removal of objectionable online content.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) rules 2011 require that the Intermediaries shall observe due diligence while discharging their duties and shall inform the users of computer resources not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, affects minors and is unlawful in any way.

    As far as OTT was concerned, sources in the ministry told indiantelevision.com that this was still a new subject, and the government would take action in the event of any complaints from viewers and subscribers.

    The Ministry, sources said, has no control over films appearing online as this falls in the ambit of the IT Act which is administered by IT Ministry.

  • Social media access can be blocked under specific conditions

    Social media access can be blocked under specific conditions

    NEW DELHI: The Government has said that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 provides for blocking access to information under specific conditions.

    Answering a question about censoring new platforms for publication and broadcasting of media content like social networks and online video services, the minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament that the Act has provisions for removal of objectionable online content.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) rules 2011 require that the Intermediaries shall observe due diligence while discharging their duties and shall inform the users of computer resources not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, affects minors and is unlawful in any way.

    With regard to the use of social media by the Government, he said social media platforms are used to disseminate/ publicise information pertaining to Government policies and programmes.

    The government has set up myGov as a social media platform for enabling greater people participation in matters relating to public policy.

    Meanwhile, the ministry has categorically said it is not contemplating any regulatory framework for censorship of content appearing on the internet.

    As far as OTT was concerned, sources in the ministry told indiantelevision.com that this was still a new subject, and the government would take action in the event of any complaints from viewers and subscribers.

    At present, the government does not certify any programmes coming on television, but the sources reiterated that programming has to be in accordance with the guidelines of the Programme and Advertising Code apart from the Uplink and Downlink Guidelines.

    The information and broadcasting ministry, sources said, has no control over films appearing online as this falls in the ambit of the IT Act which is administered by IT Ministry.

  • Social media access can be blocked under specific conditions

    Social media access can be blocked under specific conditions

    NEW DELHI: The Government has said that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 provides for blocking access to information under specific conditions.

    Answering a question about censoring new platforms for publication and broadcasting of media content like social networks and online video services, the minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament that the Act has provisions for removal of objectionable online content.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) rules 2011 require that the Intermediaries shall observe due diligence while discharging their duties and shall inform the users of computer resources not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, affects minors and is unlawful in any way.

    With regard to the use of social media by the Government, he said social media platforms are used to disseminate/ publicise information pertaining to Government policies and programmes.

    The government has set up myGov as a social media platform for enabling greater people participation in matters relating to public policy.

    Meanwhile, the ministry has categorically said it is not contemplating any regulatory framework for censorship of content appearing on the internet.

    As far as OTT was concerned, sources in the ministry told indiantelevision.com that this was still a new subject, and the government would take action in the event of any complaints from viewers and subscribers.

    At present, the government does not certify any programmes coming on television, but the sources reiterated that programming has to be in accordance with the guidelines of the Programme and Advertising Code apart from the Uplink and Downlink Guidelines.

    The information and broadcasting ministry, sources said, has no control over films appearing online as this falls in the ambit of the IT Act which is administered by IT Ministry.