The Centre has sent “one last notice” to microblogging platform Twitter seeking compliance with the country’s new rules for social media companies. Legal consequences will follow if Twitter fails to do so, the centre warned the social media giant.
Twitter was also told that its Chief Compliance Officer is not as per IT Rules and warned that non-compliance will lead to unintended consequences like Twitter losing exemption from liability for third-party content.
The microblogging website owned by Jack Dorsey is mired in controversy in India over the new IT rules.
“It’s beyond belief that Twitter Inc. has doggedly refused to create mechanisms to enable users to resolve their grievances,” the communication added.
The new IT rules, which were announced on February 25 by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), came into effect on May 26. Every social media intermediary, including Twitter, was given three months to comply with them.
Twitter has not complied with the rules that stipulate the appointment of a resident grievance officer. The platform said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new IT rules and regulations that it said, “inhibit free, open public conversation”.
Under the new digital rules, social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to identify within 36 hours the originator of a flagged message as well as to conduct additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
