Will Social Media Platforms Get Banned?

The speculation on the ban of the famous social media platforms in India is in the air as the social media platforms are failed to comply with new rules. Those social media platforms whose future has come under contention are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In February 2021, India came up with some new social media rules. There are some deadlines under the Centre's new IT rules that should be met by these tech giants within some time limit but they failed to do so.

What are the new guidelines for some media?

In February, the government released the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code (Information Technology Rules), 2021 for regulating the content in social media and OTT platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The main purpose of the new guidelines is to make the social media platforms more accountable and responsible for the content they are allowing the users to showcase on their platforms.

With the new social media rules, platforms will be required to disclose the first originator of a mischievous tweet or message which could be about the security of the state, the sovereignty of India, relations with foreign states, etc. Moreover, the government ordered that social media platforms would be bound under the law to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours. Additionally, to resolve the matters they have to set up a complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

Why Social Media platforms to be banned in India?

The Ministry of Electronics and IT needs all social media giants to appoint a nodal contact person, a chief compliance officer, and a resident grievance officer (employees residing in India) within three months from the order. Only the homegrown Koo App had followed the center's guidelines, which has led to questions on whether there will be a ban on the other top social media platforms that have failed to meet the 3-month deadline.

Government sources have further revealed that social media platforms have taken more time for furnishing compliances. Some claim that they cannot take any action until they get the instructions from their company headquarters based in the USA. So far, there is no confirmation on whether there will be a ban on these social media platforms in India. However, the Centre is not happy with the lackadaisical response of these platforms and has warned that failure in implementing these rules would lead to the companies losing their status and protection as Intermediaries. 

By: Manshi Bisht

Content: https://www.republicworld.com/technology-news/social-media-news/new-it-rules-explained-what-facebook-twitter-instagram-need-to-change-to-avoid-ban.html