ITV

Tag: social media

  • WhatsApp appoints grievance officer for India

    WhatsApp appoints grievance officer for India

    KOLKATA: Amid talks over implementation of new IT rules, messaging platform WhatsApp has appointed Paresh B Lal as grievance officer in India.

    WhatsApp has updated the new appointment on its website so users can contact Paresh B through a post box in Banjara Hills at Hyderabad in Telangana state. As per a PTI report, other large digital companies like Google have also started updating their websites to reflect the respective appointments of grievance officers in these organisations. Twitter also informed the Delhi high court that it has appointed the grievance redressal officer.

    The government issued new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms on 25 February with a three-month deadline. It directed intermediaries to appoint a grievance officer based in India for a time-bound redressal of user complaints. As per the rules, a social media intermediary is also required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination. They will also have to publish a monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.

    After the rules came into effect on 26 May, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) wrote to “Significant Social Media Intermediaries” (SSMIs) asking for details of compliance.

    Under the new “the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,” SSMIs are defined as social media companies with more than 50 lakh registered users. Hence, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram fall under the SSMIs category.

  • 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.

  • Google, Facebook updating website as per new IT rules

    Google, Facebook updating website as per new IT rules

    New Delhi: Tech giants Google and Facebook have started updating their websites to reflect the appointment of the grievance officers as per the new IT rules that came into effect on 26 May.

    The companies have shared the details with the ministry of electronics and information and technology, reported PTI citing government sources. However, Twitter is yet to inform the Centre if it is complying with the norms. Google’s ‘Contact Us’ page shows details of Joe Grier as a contact person with an address from Mountain View, US. It also contains details on the grievance redressal mechanism for YouTube.

    The new IT (guidelines for intermediaries and digital media ethics code) rules, 2021 notified by the Centre on 25 February recommend a three-tier mechanism for regulation of all online media, which confers blocking powers to an inter-ministerial committee. 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. 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. The grievance officer would be required to acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days from its receipt.

    The platforms would also be required to ensure online safety of users, especially women and remove/disable access of any such morphed content, within 24 hours of the complaint, which can be filed either by the individual or by any other person on his/her behalf. 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.”

  • MeitY seeks compliance details of new IT rules from large social media platforms

    MeitY seeks compliance details of new IT rules from large social media platforms

    KOLKATA: Fears of social media platforms being switched off for not complying with the  new Indian  IT rules applicable to them from today (26 May) proved unfounded. However, they cannot rest easy as the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has written to “Significant Social Media Intermediaries” (SSMI) asking for details of compliance.

    Under the new “the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,” SSMIs have been defined as social media companies with more than 50 lakh registered users. Hence, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram fall under the SSMIs category.

    The government has asked all SSMIs to provide name of app/ website/ service falling within the scope of significant social media intermediary, the details of chief compliance officer, nodal contact person, resident grievance officer and the contact details of all the officers. It has also sought details of compliance status of these rules.

    MeitY has asked for a prompt reply, “preferably today itself.”

    The new set of guidelines came against the backdrop of growing tensions between the government and the social media platforms. “The basic essence of these guidelines is a soft touch oversight mechanism, where we are insisting upon the platforms to develop a robust mechanism for timely redressal of grievances,” said union information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

    According to the government data provided at that time, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crores Youtube users, 41 users on Facebook, 21 crores users on Instagram and 1.75 crores on Twitter.

    As part of new IT rules, the government 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.”

    This is something that has riled messaging service  WhatsApp which has filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday against the rules that will require it to “trace” the origin of messages sent on the service, which it says is a violation of privacy.

  • IT whiplash for social media for missed deadlines?

    IT whiplash for social media for missed deadlines?

    KOLKATA: Social media platforms in India, barring Koo, failed the compliance test of the Indian government to appoint grievance officers in India as the three month deadline expired today (May 26).

    Many international online platforms, including Twitter, were in regular conflict with the government amidst a heightened scrutiny and complaints over privacy in the last one year. In the latest such incident the Delhi Police raided the micro-blogging site’s Delhi office on Monday.

    Facebook too has had its fair share of controversies, and backlash from both opposition and ruling political parties in the country.

    Given this situation, the government issued new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms last February with a three-month deadline for compliance. It had directed intermediaries to appoint a grievance officer based out of India for timely redressal of complaints by users.

    As per the rules that came into force today, every social media intermediary was required to appoint a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person for 24/7 coordination. They were also directed to publish monthly compliance reports with details of complaints received and commensurate action taken.

    The rules come into effect from today (26 May) but no other social media giant has complied with the new rules barring Koo. The question being asked by Indian consumers is whether these intermediary platforms will be banned now?

    As a first step, the government may serve show cause notices upon these platforms while asking about the reasons in delay (read non-compliance). The act and the rules empower the government to force stop a particular platform from operating access in India but, it is very unlikely that the government will invoke the same at the very first instance, according to a legal expert. “Most of the intermediaries are in the process (read various stages) of complying with the rules,” he added.

    “We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. Pursuant to the IT Rules, we are working to implement operational processes and to improve efficiencies. Facebook remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platform,” a spokesperson for  Facebook said on Tuesday.

    Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have hitherto enjoyed the status of “intermediaries” under the IT Act, 2000, and were exempted from the liabilities that would otherwise accrue for publication of illegal content,  according to  partner at Bharucha & Partners Kaushik Moitra.

    As per the provisions of Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000, “an intermediary shall not be liable for any third-party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by him.”

    Simply put, an intermediary is not liable for any content posted on its platform by a third-party if it is merely facilitating the transfer of information between third-parties, Moitra explained.

    Social media platforms are welcome to do business in India, but they are also required to practise “due diligence” under the new guidelines, failing which safe harbour provisions do not apply to them, union information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said at the time of introducing the rules. The rules in India go beyond a single content moderation body and have mandated a more complex institutional structure to regulate information flow through intermediaries, BMU Law school dean Nigam Nuggehalli pointed out.

    “It’s not merely the appointment of officers but the bureaucratic structure that comes with it-maintenance of records, hearings and government scrutiny- that must be reviewed carefully to ensure a balance is maintained between discouraging abuse and fake news on the one hand and innovation and creativity on the other,” he further added.

    The IT Rules, 2021 themselves do not set out any penalties for non-compliance of their stipulations. The provisions of the IT Act, 2000 are relevant, Moitra clarified.

    “The government may decide to (i) revoke the ‘intermediary’ status of the social media platforms, therefore taking away the immunity enjoyed by them; (ii) per the IT Act, 2000, the penalty for failure to furnish information, return, etc. as required under the Act or the Rules, ranges from Rs 5000 – Rs 10,000 for every day during which such failure continues; and (iii) otherwise for contravening any rules or regulations made under the IT Act, the social media platforms may be required to pay a compensation or penalty of INR 25,000.

    Additionally, the government may issue blocking orders against such non-compliant platforms under the IT Act,” he added.

  • AcneStar face wash launches digital campaign with regional influencers

    AcneStar face wash launches digital campaign with regional influencers

    Mumbai: AcneStar face wash from the house of Mankind Pharma has streamlined its marketing strategy with digital campaigns on their YouTube and social media platforms. The brand has come up with a digital campaign with regional influencers to leverage different audience bases from their digital affinities and demographics.

    With the rise in the number of internet users in India, the brand has decided to adopt newer languages to engage with their audience in their local language. To capture the different regional speaking markets the brand has collaborated with four leading actresses from different regional markets.

    The brand has collaborated with model, actor, and singer Himanshi Khurana who has worked in Punjabi-language films to boost brand affinity in the Hindi and Punjabi speaking market. Another actress who has predominantly appeared in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil language films, Pranitha Subhash for the southern region has also been roped in. Priyanka Sarkar, a Bengali film actress will help the brand to double down its presence in the Bengali speaking audience and to tap into the Marathi speaking audience the brand has leveraged actress Hruta Durgule.

    Keeping in mind the diverse audiences across the country, the brand has planned to rope in more regional influencers in the coming days to establish a stronger presence across the nation. The campaign is designed and planned based on consumer insights and learnings from the past campaigns, it said on Monday.

    Mankind Pharma, general manager, sales & marketing Joy Chatterjee said, “AcneStar is an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial face wash which plays an important role in everyone’s life and we are trying to create awareness for our brand through a regional approach. We are confident that this campaign will help us build deeper and newer connections with our audiences.”

  • Snapchat India ropes in Poonam Nikam as communications lead

    Snapchat India ropes in Poonam Nikam as communications lead

    KOLKATA: Snapchat India has roped in Poonam Nikam as communications lead. Prior to this, Nikam was associated with ByteDance as global communication manager.

    In her long career, she has worked with renowned companies including Airtel, Sony Music Entertainment. Nikam is an alumna of St Xavier’s College and a graduate from the Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce.

    Snapchat which has reached over 500 million monthly active users has seen over 100 per cent (year-over-year) growth in daily active users (DAUs) in each of the last five quarters, announced recently.

    Nikam is a professional specialising in consumer, corporate, crisis and internal communications across consumer tech, music, lifestyle and telecom sectors. She is a believer in adopting new age tools in communication in order to engage with different external stakeholders, a passionate storyteller with a constant hunger for developing engaging and enthralling stories.

  • Rollback WhatsApp’s new privacy policy: GOI to Facebook

    Rollback WhatsApp’s new privacy policy: GOI to Facebook

    KOLKATA: The union ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has sought the withdrawal of the controversial new privacy policy sought to be introduced in India by the Facebook owned messaging service platform WhatsApp.

    A notice issued to the social messaging platform has sought a reply by May 25, 2021, while noting that an unsatisfactory response may prompt legal action against the internet based application. The Indian government has previously banned several (similarly popular) web supported gaming applications emanating from neighbouring China after the Chinese military incursions into India’s sovereign territory resulted in lives of military personnel on both sides being lost.

    The new privacy policy was initially expected to come into effect on 8 February but was deferred to 15 May in the wake of a severe backlash from users. WhatsApp intended to make it mandatory for users to agree to new data-sharing norms including one, it is alleged, that would result in sharing of data from WhatsApp business chats with third-party applications including its parent Facebook. 

    The advisory issued by the ministry on Tuesday noted, “The deferral (to May 15) does not absolve (read indemnify) it from respecting Indian users’ choice, the value of data security and informational privacy.”

    MeitY is also unhappy with WhatsApp’s alleged discrimination between Indian and European users in the context of the same policy. According to the ministry, it is highly irresponsible of WhatsApp to leverage its position to impose unfair terms and conditions on the large number of Indian users using the messaging application for day-to-day communication purposes.

    “In fulfilment of its sovereign responsibility to protect the rights and interests of Indian citizens, the government of India will consider various options available to it under laws in India,” the notice further stated. India constitutes the largest consumer base of WhatsApp with over 400 million subscribers resident here. 

    The private messaging platform has previously tried to allay fears over the privacy update stating that it was restricted to users of its business services and would in no way compromise the end-to-end encryption services offered by the application. “We’ve spent the last few months working to clear up confusion and misinformation. As a reminder this update does not impact the privacy of personal messages for anyone,” WhatsApp has repeatedly stated through recently issued advisories.