New IT Rules empowering, protecting users: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said the new IT rules are empowering and protecting users.

In a post on Koo, the Indian competitor of micro-blogging platform Twitter, Vaishnaw said he reviewed the Information Technology Rules, 2021 with Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The new rules will ensure a safer and responsible social media ecosystem in India, he said. 

"Reviewed the implementation and compliance of Information Technology Rules, 2021 along with my colleague Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar ji. These guidelines are empowering and protecting users and will ensure a safer and responsible social media ecosystem in India," he said in the post.

The new IT rules were notified on February 25 and social media companies had time till May 25 to comply with them.

The rules mandate large platforms like Facebook and Twitter to undertake greater due diligence and make these digital platforms more accountable and responsible for the content hosted by them.

The rules also require significant social media intermediaries - providing services primarily in the nature of messaging - to enable identification of the "first originator" of the information that undermines the sovereignty of India, the security of the state, or public order.

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Under the rules, significant social media intermediaries - those with over 50 lakh users - are required to appoint a grievance officer, a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel have to be residents of India.

Furthermore, social media companies have to take down flagged content within 36 hours and remove within 24 hours content that is flagged for issues such as nudity and pornography.

Twitter, which has been involved in a standoff with the government over the new rules, has named Vinay Prakash as its Resident Grievance Officer for India, according to its website.

However, Facebook-owned Whatsapp has challenged the new IT rules requiring the messaging app to trace chats and make provisions to identify the first originator of information, saying they violate the right to privacy and are unconstitutional.

Whatsapp further alleged the requirement of intermediaries enabling the identification of the first originator of information in India upon government or court order puts end-to-end encryption and its benefits at risk .

Some of the media houses have also challenged the new IT rules and the matter is sub-judice.

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