US social giant Twitter has toned down its defiant stand against India’s new IT rules after the Delhi High Court sent a notice to the microblogging site over non-compliance of the law.
After the High Court notice on Monday, Twitter issued a statement saying the company strives to comply with new Information Technology (IT) rules applicable to digital firms in India. “We continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the Indian law,” the company’s statement said.
The Twitter statement came hours after Delhi High Court said that the microblogging platform will have to comply with the new rules if they haven't been stayed. The court has issued a notice to Twitter giving the company three weeks to respond on the issue.
The High Court notice was issued in response to a pleas filed by lawyer Amit Acharya over Twitter's non-compliance. He said that he came to know about the non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets.
Acharya said that the IT Rules took effect from February 25 and that the Centre gave three months to every social media intermediary to comply with them. The three-month period was over on May 25 but Twitter still did not have any resident grievance officer.
Twitter claimed that it has complied with the rules and has appointed a resident grievance officer. However, the central government disputed the claim. Central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the Centre that Twitter has not complied with the new IT rules.
He sought a direction to Twitter to appoint a resident grievance officer without further delay. It has also sought a direction to the Centre to ensure that the IT rules are complied with.
Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media platforms have been asked to identify the originator of a flagged message within 36 hours as well as conduct additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
The step has been taken as there have been instances in the past when fake news has been spread via social media to spread communal riots. There have also been instances of terrorist outfits using social media for communicating and law enforcing agencies require this information to track down the culprits. Pornography is another malaise that has crept into social media and here again the law enforcement agencies need the information to bust the racket. Besides, there are numerous cases of harassment on social media which the police are required to investigate.
