Twitter Loses Legal Protection in India For ‘Communal Sentiments’
This came shortly after a case was filed against Twitter in Uttar Pradesh over a video that went viral on the social media platform. The video showed four men beating an elderly man, chopping his beard, and asking him to chant ''Jai Shri Ram'' in the Loni area of Ghaziabad.
Twitter Loses Legal Protection in India For 'Flaring Communal Sentiments': Report
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tussle between the government and Twitter over the new IT rules, the microblogging platform today lost ”safe harbour” protection in India for not complying with the directives. This means that Twitter can now be charged for users’ posts. “Due to their non-compliance, their protection as an intermediary is gone. Twitter is liable for penal actions against any Indian law just as any publisher is,” NDTV reported sources as saying. Also Read - Twitter Appoints Interim Chief Compliance Officer, to Share Details With IT Ministry Soon.
This came shortly after a case was filed against Twitter in Uttar Pradesh over a video that went viral on the social media platform. The video showed four men beating an elderly man, chopping his beard, and asking him to chant ”Jai Shri Ram” in the Loni area of Ghaziabad.
The FIR filed by police charges Twitter for “flaring communal sentiments” by not marking the video as manipulated media. The UP Police has maintained that it was not a communal incident.
A source told PTI that Twitter’s intermediary status and the legal shield it had, ended automatically on May 26, given its non-compliance with new guidelines. The same is true for any other social media platform, which has not complied with the requirement under the IT rules.
“Twitter has lost its status as an intermediary platform in India due to non-compliance with new IT rules. This means instead of being considered just a platform hosting content from various users, Twitter will be directly editorially responsible for posts published on its platform,” ANI quoted government sources as saying.
The implication of this development is that if there is any charge against Twitter for alleged unlawful content it would be treated as a publisher – not an intermediary – and be liable for punishment under any law, including IT Act, as also the penal laws of the country.
The social media giant on Tuesday appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer and said the details of the official will be shared with the IT Ministry directly soon. The Centre had issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to “immediately” comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.
Twitter has been at loggerheads with the Indian government over delay in complying with the new IT rules that mandate large digital platforms to undertake greater due diligence, and make them more accountable and responsible for the content that is hosted.
As per the rules, significant social media intermediaries — those with over 50 lakh users — are required to appoint a grievance officer, a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel have to be residents of India.
Source: India.com
