The government on Friday tweaked IT rules to pave the way for setting up of grievance appellate panels, which will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.
Gaming platforms will also be required to display a warning after a certain time of usage to reduce the risk of addiction.
IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday slammed Twitter for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country's new IT rules, which has led to the United States giant losing its intermediary status in India and becoming liable for users posting any unlawful content.
MeitY had stated there was a need to set up GACs as grievance officers hired by the platforms often did not address issues satisfactorily.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday closed proceedings in a petition alleging non-compliance of new IT Rules by Twitter, saying that 'nothing remained' in view of the central government being satisfied with the micro-blogging platform appointing a chief compliance officer (CCO), resident grievance officer (RGO) and nodal contact person.
According to amended IT rules, social media and streaming companies will be required to take down contentious content quicker, appoint grievance redressal officers and assist in investigations.
The submission was made before Justice Yashwant Varma who was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the suspension and deletion of accounts of several social media users, including Twitter users.
The Delhi high court Friday asked Twitter to remove certain objectionable material relating to Hindu Goddess from its platform, observing that the social media giant shall respect sentiments of general public as it was doing business for them.
Koo -- the made-in-India rival of Twitter -- will not charge users for a verification badge, its co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said as he took on the larger rival for allegedly first creating bots and now charging users for verification. Koo, which allows users to express views in Indian languages, has already crossed 50 million downloads and is now flying into the rival's nest, starting a campaign on Twitter by making itself prominently visible on verified handles and offering them better deals on its platform at no cost. Since taking over Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk has set in motion massive changes, sacking employees and talking of levying a $8 charge for 'verified' handles.
The apex court also directed the Centre to produce original records relating to take down order.
This is the first time that the IT ministry has outlined its stance in a dispute between users and social media platforms.
The videos of the perfume brand Layer Shot sparked outrage among a large section of social media users, who claimed the advertisement sought to promote sexual violence against women.
Journalists acting in a manner prejudicial to the country's "security, sovereignty and integrity" as well as "public order, decency or morality" will lose their government accreditation, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said in its new guidelines.
#TwitterBan was trending on Twitter with almost 17,000 tweets.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed further proceedings before the high courts in matters involving challenges to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 or Cable TV Networks (Amendment) Rules 2021.
Under the rules, media companies or their associations have to form self-regulatory bodies which would be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or high courts or an eminent person.
The Madras high court on Friday granted 10 more days to the Centre to file its counter-affidavit in response to a batch of PIL pleas challenging the new Information Technology (IT) Rules.
Homegrown microblogging platform Koo said the new guidelines will help clarify the responsibilities of intermediaries.
Apple and Signal silent on names required under the new IT rules.
Asked about action taken against those spreading fake news, and publishers of anti-national material, he said more than 60 accounts have been blocked including those on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) on Monday announced the appointment of former Supreme Court judge Justice Vikramjit Sen as the Chairman of its newly formed self-regulatory body Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC).
Social media needs to be made more accountable and stricter rules in this regard could be brought in if there is political consensus on the matter, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Twitter on Friday said it 'stands prepared' to work with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT on safeguarding citizens' rights online, even as the panel categorically told the microblogging platform that rule of the land is supreme and not the company's policies.
The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that there is no proposal with the Information Technology ministry to set up a regulator for social media.
A bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi, which was hearing a petition against the allegedly obnoxious posts on Maa Kali by user 'AtheistRepublic', directed Twitter to explain how it undertakes the blocking of accounts.
The ministry has also issued orders for blocking of two Twitter accounts, two Instagram accounts and one Facebook account involved in spreading 'coordinated anti-India disinformation'.
This is the second time Twitter has misrepresented India's map. Earlier it had shown Leh as part of China.
Twitter on Friday temporarily blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's account for alleged violation of the US Copyright Act, a move that the minister slammed as being arbitrary and gross violation of IT rules.
The Bombay high court on Saturday granted an interim stay to the operation of parts of the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 which require that all online publishers follow a "code of ethics" and norms of conduct.
The move assumes significance as a series of reports recently citing internal documents showed "a struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence" in India - Facebook's biggest market with over 40 crore users.
The noted culture and political commentator sought the court to declare the new rules ultra vires of the Constitution and the parent Information Technology Act, as these norms, among other things, imposes a 'chilling effect' on free speech and are vague and indeterminate.
India has to put in place legislation and rules which seek more clarity and transparency from technology companies. Domestic and global companies that use consumer behaviour data to enhance addictive behaviour must be scrutinised and controlled. Currently the intermediary guidelines focus mostly on content management and grievance redressal. However, the underlying software engines that influence online consumer behaviour need oversight, too.
The submission was made by the UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan; on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clement Nyaletsossi Voule; and the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci.
The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) Thursday urged the government to 'exempt and exclude' the traditional television news media and its extended presence on the digital news platforms from the ambit of the IT Rules 2021, saying it is already 'sufficiently regulated' by various statutes, laws, guidelines, codes and regulations.
Sections in the draft Personal Data Protection Bill are a blatant violation of the Right to Privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Justice Rekha Palli noted that while the rules mandated appointment of a key managerial person or a senior employee as CCO, Twitter disclosed in its affidavit that it had appointed a 'contingent worker' through a third party contractor.
The affidavit further said that the IT Rules impose a host of obligations on a company in relation to the security of the data collected by it in the course of its business.
The proposal -- aimed at tackling issues related to anonymity of users in the fast-growing social media space -- has been mooted for the first time as part of the amendments likely to be made to the existing IT intermediary rules, the source said. Social media companies with more than 50 lakh users in India will be categorised as significant social media intermediaries. These companies will also have to comply with stricter obligations, including traceability of users, under the revised rules, the source said.
The publishing of compliance reports by Google, Facebook and Instagram is bound to turn up the heat on Twitter, which has been engaged in a tussle with the Indian government over the new social media rules.
The salient features of the new OTT/social media policy announced by the Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on February 25, 2021.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances