Indian IT Minister Upset at Twitter For Not Complying with Country’s Newly Enacted IT Laws

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Striking a strong hit at microblogging social network Twitter, Indian union minister of Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad indicated upsetness towards Twitter’s willful resistance to following Intermediary Guidelines enacted since 26th May 2020. Indian IT Minister quoted Twitter as the flag bearer of free expression who is resisting while complying with the government regulations to counter fake news that leads to unrest in the society.

It is astounding that Twitter which portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the Intermediary Guidelines.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) June 16, 2021

In a series of tweets, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad raised question whether Twitter is eligible for the “safe harbour provision.” The IT Minister aggressively cornered twitter for its failure to comply with government regulations.

There are numerous queries arising as to whether Twitter is entitled to safe harbour provision. However, the simple fact of the matter is that Twitter has failed to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines that came into effect from the 26th of May.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) June 16, 2021

What are the new Indian IT laws?

The ‘Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021′ were notified by the Union government on February 25, giving SSMIs (significant social media intermediaries) three months to comply.
The new regulations require platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram to assist the government in identifying the “originator” of “unlawful” communications. These rules also compel social media platforms to remove such messages within a certain time, set up a complaints resolution mechanism, and assist government agencies in their investigations.

What would happen if social media platforms do not comply?

Due to non-compliance with these rules, the SSMIs may lose their “safe harbour” status, which protects them from criminal and civil penalties for anything published on their network by third-party users.

How Social Media Networks Responded?

Facebook stated that it “aims to comply” with the new IT regulations and that it will continue to discuss a few of the issues that require additional state interference. Telegram claimed to have conformed with “almost all new IT legislation,” while Indian microblogging network Koo also claimed to have met the standards. Twitter and WhatsApp have not responded to questions about whether they are complying with the new legislation.
Google, too, hasn’t discussed if it was entirely able to comply with the new rules. “We respect India’s parliamentary system, and we have a long history of complying with government requests to remove anything that is in violation of federal law or our company standards.,” stated Google.

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