NEW DELHI: With the deadline for social media platforms to comply with the new rules ending yesterday, the government today asked these companies to immediately report their status on compliance with the fresh digital guidelines.
The two-page note, sent to “significant social media intermediaries” which have more than 50 lakh subscribers, said the rules seeking “due diligence” required from such large digital platforms had come into effect from Wednesday. The Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology in its note has asked the companies to “confirm and share the response ASAP (as soon as possible) and preferably today itself”.
As per its Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, amended on February 25 this year, the IT Ministry has sought contact details and names of Chief Compliance Officer, Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person. The three-member official panel is an essential requirement under the rules and social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube need to appoint these officials.
So far, social media companies are not liable for content posted on their platforms. As the new rules kick in, social media companies will lose their immunity from liabilities for any third-party information and data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints. The new rules require them to take down any content flagged by the authorities within 36 hours, and set up a robust mechanism to respond to complaints.