Will Facebook, Twitter, Instagram be forbidden in India? The cause behind it.

In February, the ministry asked to all the social media intermediaries for the monthly reports on the number of complaints filed on their platforms against the content or the policy. How many grievances were being registered and what is the status of the rest. That requirement too has not been complied yet.

Several social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter and Instagram may be banned in India from 26^th of May, if the new guidelines are not complied by the Indian government. Guidelines which were issued in February, 2021 required all mandatory social media intermediaries to designate executives for the roles of one nodal officer, grievance officer, and chief compliance officer on these platforms by the government and the Indian government are yet to appoint any of these executives for the social media.

If the companies fail to obey the new guidelines by the midnight of 25^th of May, the users of these platforms may face difficulties in using the apps and they could lose their status which is secured under section 79 of The Information Technology Act, 2000.

Section 79 of the Act states that 1) a person should not share any illegal or unlawful content in any social media platforms, 2) the intermediaries shall not be responsible for the third party information, records, or communication link made available or put on by him.

The Indian version of Twitter, Koo is the only app that has submitted new guidelines ahead of the May 25 deadline. Facebook and Instagram still did not respond to the emails. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have also taken strong exception towards the intermediaries stand that they would have to calibrate with their headquarters in the U.S before appointing officers in these positions. This is totally not fair that they expand their business in India and earn revenue from the data of Indian users; does the group sitting in the U.S can make an ex parte assessment of the situation?

The streaming OTT platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime and others also have to appoint a grievances officer for those crimes which will investigate on the grievances and act on them in 15 days. In conclusion, the companies should include representatives from the various ministries and form a committee to regulate the policy. The committees will have the sole powers to take actions on the grievances of the violation of codes.

                                                       - by Anjali Kumari