Twitter seeks more time from Centre to comply with new IT rules

The company said that it intends to comply with the rules but needs more time due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation in India

Microblogging platform Twitter had again asked for more time to comply with the new social media intermediary rules which came into force from May 26.

The US-based social media company was learnt to have informed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology that it intends to comply with the rules but needs more time due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation in India.

"We have assured the Government of India that Twitter is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines, and an overview on our progress has been duly shared. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government," the spokesperson said on Monday.

Twitter has been and remains deeply committed to India, and serving the vital public conversation taking place on the service, the spokesperson said.

Twitter's response comes after the government's final notice to the company issued last week, regarding its non-compliance with the new rules.

In its notice, MeitY had said that Twitter's refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated the micro-blogging site's "lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform".

"Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources," the ministry had said in the notice.

According to the government, most of the social media platforms Facebook, Whatsapp, Koo and Telegram have started following new rules and appointed Indian residents as compliance and grievances redressal officers.

The new rules were announced in February, which will come into force from May 26, requires large social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer, monitoring of objectionable content, preparing monthly compliance report and removal of objectionable content.

The new rules also specify that social media firms adopt features such as traceability of messages and voluntary user verification.

Non-compliance with the rules would result in these platforms losing the intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

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