Will India Block Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in 2 Days as New IT Rules Come Into Effect?

Will India Block Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in 2 Days as New IT Rules Come Into Effect?

25 May 2021* New Delhi: Will Indians lose access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in two days? These social media giants have been put on notice by the Centre with a warning about their failure to comply with a set of guidelines that will come into effect in two days, reports NDTV quoting government sources. Earlier this year on February 25, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) had given a three-month deadline to all social media platforms to comply with the new IT Rules 2021, the window for which ends on May 25.

The rules include appointment of compliance officials, giving their name and contact address in India, complaint resolution, monitoring of objectionable content, compliance report and removal of objectionable content.

So far, no company except for one has appointed any such officials, sources said. Some platforms have asked for a six-month deadline, saying that they were still waiting for instructions from their headquarters in the US.

Under the new laws, the oversight mechanism will include a committee with representatives from ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home, I&B, Law, IT and Women and Child Development. It will have “suo motu powers” to call hearings on complaints of violation of the Code of Ethics if it wants. The government will also designate an officer of the rank of a Joint Secretary or above as the “Authorised Officer” who can direct blocking of content. If an appellate body believes that the content violates the law, it is empowered to send the content to a government-controlled committee for blocking orders to be issued.