Social media intermediaries with more than 50 lakh registered users in India to be 'significant social media intermediary' under IT Rules 2021

Social media intermediaries with more than 50 lakh registered users in India will be considered as "significant social media intermediaries" under the newly notified Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules 2021). .A gazette notification to this effect was issued on Friday by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. ."In exercise of power conferred by clause (v) of sub-rule (1) of rule 2 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Central Government hereby specifies fifty lakh registered users in India as the threshold for a social media intermediary to be considered a significant social media intermediary," the notification states..The Central government had notified the intermediary guidelines of 2021 on Thursday to regulate the functioning of online media portals and publishers, over-the-top (OTT platforms), and social media intermediaries..According to the Rules, a 'significant social media intermediary' has some additional obligations in comparison to other social media intermediaries.It has to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Information Technology Act and Rules made thereunder. Such officer shall be liable for any proceedings relating to any relevant third-party information, data or communication link made available or hosted by that intermediary, where he fails to ensure that such intermediary observes due diligence while discharging its duties under the Act and rules made thereunder. .Further, a significant social media intermediary has to appoint a nodal person of contact for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance with their orders or requisitions made in accordance with the provisions of law. .It also has to publish periodic compliance report every six months mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken thereon, and the number of specific communication links or parts of information that the intermediary has removed or disabled access to in pursuance of any proactive monitoring conducted by using automated tools or any other relevant information..Social media, online news websites, OTT platforms under regulatory net: Information Technology Rules, 2021 notified.A significant social media intermediary providing services primarily in the nature of messaging is obligated to enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource as may be required by a judicial order passed by a court of competent jurisdiction or an order passed under Section 69 of the IT Act by the competent authority..The Rules also provide that a significant social media intermediary should endeavour to deploy technology-based measures, including automated tools or other mechanisms to proactively identify information that depicts any act or simulation in any form depicting rape, child sexual abuse or conduct, whether explicit or implicit, or any information which is exactly identical in content to information that has previously been removed or access to which has been disabled..Measures taken by the intermediary in this regard shall be proportionate to the interests of free speech and expression, and privacy of users on the computer resource of such intermediary..A significant social media intermediary should have a physical contact address in India published on its website or mobile-based Internet application or both, as the case may be, for the purposes of receiving the communication addressed to it..[Read Notification and Rules]