Social media grievance addressal panel to in place by November end: Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The government will, over the next 10-12 days, come out with proposed modalities and terms of references for 'grievance appellate committee' that will address social media users' unresolved complaints, and expects the panel to be in place by November 30, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.

The minister asserted that compliance of IT rules and laws is not "pick and choose" or "cherry picking" option for social media platforms, and made it clear that the government will not be a mute spectator to tussle between platforms and citizens, if grievances of 'digital nagriks' are not being addressed effectively, despite being flagged.

Chandrasekhar said that the government had been open to the industry coming up with an effective self-regulatory organisation structure (for user grievances), and had, in fact, waited almost 2.5 months even after the rules were ready, for the industry to respond with a firm proposal.

"I am saying even today, government is not interested in playing the role of appellate body. If the industry, working with consumer bodies, can come up with credible framework where appeals that lie unaddressed because of grievance redressal mechanism not being satisfactory, are addressed by SRO, we are still open to it," Chandrasekhar, minister of state for IT, said.

The tighter IT rules, notified last week, have set the stage for formation of government-appointed GACs which will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.

"We will roll out the architecture, design and terms of reference of the GAC in the next 10-12 days and I will also assure you that nothing will be finalised or notified without consultation with both the consumers and the industry," Chandrasekhar, told PTI.

The draft will be followed by meetings and discussions to ensure "everyone is clear and satisfied with the goals, objectives of the GAC and how it will function both in terms of consumers as a stakeholder, as well as industry and platforms as stakeholders", the minister assured.

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"I see no reason why before November 30, we should not have a GAC in place," the minister said.

The new amendments to IT rules impose a legal obligation on social media companies to take all out efforts to prevent barred content and misinformation, the government said on Saturday, making it clear that platforms such as Twitter and Facebook operating in India will have to abide by local laws and constitutional rights of Indian users.

The amended rules provide for setting up appellate committees which can overrule decisions of the big tech firms on takedown or blocking requests, where user grievance have remained unresolved despite being flagged.

The rules also have made it explicit for the intermediary to respect the rights accorded to the Indian citizens under the Articles 14 (non-discrimination), 19 (freedom of speech, subject to certain restrictions) and 21 (right to privacy) of the Indian Constitution.

"We have made it clear that there is no arbitrariness that will be acceptable anymore. Platforms will have to give a person the due process of explaining himself or herself before deplatforming. It will be more fair and just for users, and less arbitrary for platform," he explained.

The hardening of stance against big tech companies comes at a time when discontent has been brewing over alleged arbitrary acts of platforms on flagged content, or intermediaries not responding fast enough to grievances, and even de-platforming users without following proper procedures.

The minister further said that the GACs will also function as a "traffic signpost" on the internet; that is where appellate disputes relate to the IT ministry, it will resolve those complaints. Parties are free to appeal against such decisions in the courts. When complaints relate to areas outside the purview of the IT ministry, GAC will direct the appeal to the concerned tribunals or administrative ministry.

The compliance of rules and laws is not "pick and choose" or "cherry picking" option for platforms, Chandrasekhar said cautioning that if and when rules are not followed, the 'safe harbour protections' that platforms enjoy, fall away.

"If platforms increasingly comply with obligations of content moderation as has been laid out, addressing user harm, national security and misinformation...then there is no need for safe harbour to go. But it is a natural consequence of the rules that if the platforms do not comply with the obligations cast on them of making the internet safe and trusted space, then there is no consequence or obligation on part of the government to provide them safe harbour," he said.

In other words, the safe harbour protection is "earned", subject to platform doing its bit to keep internet safe and trusted by making sure that the content that is flagged as causing user harm, is not hosted on it.

Amid concerns over the rising clout of big tech firms globally, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, Elon Musk, on Friday completed his USD 44-billion takeover of Twitter, placing the world's richest man at the helm of one of the most influential social media apps in the world. Incidentally, the microblogging platform has had multiple run-ins with the government in the past.

To a question on how the Centre is looking at the top level changes at Twitter, Chandrasekhar said: "Government looks at internet through the prism of keeping it safe and accountable for 120 crore digital nagriks (digital citizens). Safe and trusted internet is an integral part of trillion dollar digital economy goal."

The minister went on to add: "We are not looking at this through the prism of any owner's ideology...All those issues are irrelevant to how we approach rule-making and law-making, and duty we have of ensuring open, safe and accountable internet."

The government sees social media platforms as a "partner" and "it is not an adversarial relationship", the minister said pointing out that the IT ministry has held a wide consultation with the platforms, and been open about its expectations of platforms all through.

"In our opinion the objectives of an open, safe and trusted internet is a 'win-win' for government, citizens and for platforms who use internet and deliver services and products," Chandrasekhar said.