Social media platform Facebook on Tuesday said it “aims to comply” with the central government’s new information technology rules, ANI reported. The statement holds significance as Tuesday marks the end of the three months’ deadline set by the Centre for social media platforms to comply with the new rules.
“We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “Pursuant to the IT rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies.”
A sweeping set of rules were issued on February 25 to regulate social media companies, streaming and digital news content that will virtually bring these platforms, for the first time, under the ambit of government supervision.
Among other things, the “Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021”, the regulations mandated that social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter Signal and Facebook will now have to give details about the origin of a tweet or a message on being asked by either a court or a government authority. The regulation also requires social media companies to set up a three-tier grievance redressal framework.
With the information and technology ministry’s three-month deadline set to expire on Tuesday, reports suggested that social media giants Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were yet to comply with the rules.
The government is likely to seek reports from the companies to check if they have complied with the rules. In case they have not, the social media companies may lose their status and protections as intermediaries and may become liable for criminal action, MoneyControl reported, citing unidentified sources in knowledge of the matter. Section 79 of the Information Technology Act gives social media intermediaries immunity from legal prosecution for content posted on their platforms, according to The Indian Express.
However, there has been no official comment on the matter from any central ministers or officials.
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