Under the new rules, all social media intermediaries are required
to identify the original source of information flagged by government
authorities besides implementing robust grievance redressal systems.
In February, the Indian Government's Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology (MeitY) had released new guidelines to regulate
digital content.
Earlier this week, Twitter labeled BJP Spokesman Sambit
Patra's tweet as "manipulated media". Shortly thereafter, Delhi
Police raided Twitter India's offices and served the company a notice.
This was followed by WhatsApp suing the government alleging
that compliance with new rules would be unconstitutional.
Citing government sources, PTI said Google, Facebook, and
WhatsApp have now shared requisite details of a chief compliance officer, nodal
contact person, and resident grievance officer with MeitY.
Koo, ShareChat, Telegram, and LinkedIn have already complied
with the rules that came into effect on May 26.
PTI also reported Twitter hasn't yet sent the details of a
chief compliance officer to the IT Ministry.
Additionally, after a strong response from the government,
Twitter has reportedly listed a lawyer working at an Indian law firm as the
nodal contact person and grievance officer.
News18 reported that Twitter called the Delhi Police visit
to its offices a form of "intimidation." However, the government
countered the statement reportedly calling it "totally baseless, false,
and an attempt to defame India."
The Centre has said that the new rules are in place to give
the intermediate platforms immunity from liabilities arising from
user-generated content hosted by them.
Additionally, the rules will help curb misuse of the
platforms and offer a robust grievance redressal system.
Understandably, non-compliance with the rules would strip
the platforms of their intermediary status, essentially making them liable for
penal action.