Twitter not complying with IT Rules 2021, grievances from India being handled by person in US: Central govt tells Delhi High Court

The Central government has told the Delhi High Court that Twitter is not complying with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021), given the fact that the person appointed to deal with grievances that arise in India is residing in the United States of America.

. An affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) stated,

"In spite of the three months’ time granted to all SSMIs to comply with the IT Rules 2021 having expired on 26.05.2021, Respondent No. 2 (Twitter) has failed to fully comply with the same."

. The affidavit was filed in a plea before the Delhi High Court by one Amit Acharya, who sought action against Twitter users for their tweets on a video from Ghaziabad showing a Muslim man being assaulted.

. In his plea, Acharya stated that upon seeking to register a complaint, he only found contact details of a grievance officer located in the US. This prompted him to file a petition before the High Court seeking a direction to Twitter to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer as mandated under Rule 4 of the IT Rules, 2021.

. Acharya had earlier filed a complaint at Delhi's Tilak Marg Police Station, against Twitter India's Manish Maheshwari, actress Swara Bhasker, journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani and Mohammed Asif Khan for their tweets on the video in question.

.Police complaint filed in Delhi against Swara Bhasker, Arfa Khanum, Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari . In its affidavit before the High Court, MEITY stated that Twitter falls under the scope of a Significant Social Media Intermediary (SSMI) and is thus obligated to comply with the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021. It further stated,

"Rule 7 provides that when an intermediary fails to observe these Rules, the provisions of section 79 (1) will not be available and the intermediary shall be liable for any punishment under any law for the time being in force in respect of the offending content."

. It went on to note how Twitter's interim Resident Grievance Officer and interim Nodal Contact Person resigned from their positions, after which grievances raised in India were being dealt with by a person in the US. Twitter had recently appointed California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new Grievance Officer for India after interim officer Dharmendra Chatur stepped down.

. As per the affidavit, Twitter is in non-compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 for the following reasons:

a. Chief Compliance Officer has not been appointed;

b. The position of the Resident Grievance Officer is vacant;

c. The position of Nodal Contact Person (even on an interim basis) is vacant;

d. The physical contact address, which was shown to be there on 29th May, 2021 is once not again available on Twitter’s website.

. The affidavit concluded by stating that Twitter will not be protected under the safe harbour protections under the Information Technology Act if it continues to be in non-compliance with the IT Rules, 2021.

Twitter not complying with IT Rules 2021, grievances from India being handled by person in US: Central govt tells Delhi High Court

Aditya AK

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