The draft comes amid Centre’s standoff with social media platforms over content moderation, takedown
The draft comes amid Centre’s standoff with social media platforms over content moderation, takedown
The government has proposed a new panel, which will have the power to overturn decisions related to content moderation/takedown of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube after appeals from users.
According to the draft of the proposed amendments IT Rules, 2021The Central Government shall constitute one or more ‘Grievance Appellate Committees’ or Appellate Committees to deal with appeals by users against the decision of the Grievance Officer appointed by the Social Media Intermediary.
The draft was placed on the website of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) by June 22, 2022 for comments and suggestions from the stakeholders. However, it was not visible on the website since Thursday afternoon. While a senior government official confirmed that the proposed draft has not been withdrawn and could be a ‘technical glitch’, the draft was not available on the ministry’s website till it went to press.
blocking accounts
The proposal comes in the wake of several standoffs between the government and social media platforms over content moderation and takedown. Last year, for example, microblogging site Twitter blocked several accounts, including news websites, actors, political activists and bloggers, posting messages in support of the farmers’ movement following government orders. The US-headquartered firm later said it had “withheld a portion of the accounts” identified by MeitY within India, and was also served a non-compliance notice following the resumption of content, which it believed to be that it was in conformity with Indian law.
In another instance, the government had asked Twitter to remove the ‘manipulated media’ tag from some tweets from the verified accounts of several BJP leaders, including Sambit Patra. However, Twitter did not remove them. In these tweets, BJP leaders shared some documents alleging the use of the toolkit by the Congress to damage the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the second wave of COVID-19.
within 30 days
The proposed amendments state that any person aggrieved by the order of the Grievance Officer appointed by the social media network can appeal to the Grievance Appeal Committee within 30 days of the receipt of the communication from the Grievance Officer.
“The Grievance Appeal Committee shall deal with such appeal expeditiously and endeavor to finally dispose of the appeal within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal,” it said.
It further states that, “every order passed by the Grievance Appeal Committee shall be complied with by the concerned arbitrator”. The committee will consist of a chairman and other members appointed by the central government.
‘addressing the gap’
“Government policies and regulations are committed to ensuring an open, secure and reliable and accountable Internet for its users. As the Internet expands rapidly in India, new issues related to the above commitments also emerge. To deal with such new and emerging issues, as well as to address the identified gaps, it is proposed to further update Part-II of the IT Rules, 2021 primarily…,” the draft says. .
The ‘Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021’ came into force from May 26, 2021, and mandates platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram to help identify the “promoters” of “unlawful” made. The messages, while social media platforms require removal of such messages within a specific time frame, also assist government agencies in investigations as well as setting up grievance redressal mechanisms.