Delhi High Court pulls up Twitter after it admits non-compliance with IT rules

Microblogging platform Twitter on Tuesday admitted to Delhi High Court it is not in compliance with the IT rules and has not appointed Grievance Officer, Compliance Officer, and Nodal Officer.

The Delhi High Court directed Twitter to inform it by July 8 as to when it will appoint a resident grievance officer (RGO) in compliance with the new IT Rules after the microblogging platform submitted that it was in the process of doing so. Justice Rekha Palli took exception to the fact the court was not informed that the earlier appointment of the RGO was only on interim basis and he has already resigned.

The high court pointed out that only an interim RGO was appointed by Twitter and a wrong impression was given to the court on May 31 as it was not informed that the appointment was on interim basis. "If he went away on June 21, the least Twitter could do was to appoint another officer in these 15 days since you knew that this matter was coming up for hearing on July 6. We are concerned with the issue of compliance. How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long as it wants in my country, I will not allow that, the judge said.

Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter, said though Twitter is in process of making the appointment, it was true that as of date there is no chief compliance officer, RGO and nodal contact person. So as the court said yes Twitter is not in compliance with rules as of now. But it is in the process of appointing the officer. When an intermediary is not in compliance with rules, it loses safe harbour protection. It is indeed that Twitter should and Twitter will comply with the rules. Please grant a reasonable time, he said.

"We admit that Compliance Officer, Nodal Officer, Grievance Officer have not been appointed, to that extent, we are in violation of IT rules, can't say we are compliant when we are not," Twitter told HC. "We had appointed an interim Grievance Officer. But he resigned after three weeks, we didn't want to put his neck in this issue," it added.

We are in the process of appointing a Grievance Officer, it finally said, adding that Twitter must and will comply with the Indian IT rules, "subject to a reasonable time.”

High Court said that it cannot take as long as it wants to appoint a Grievance Officer. It has been two weeks since the resignation of the interim grievance officer, the court said. "What is Twitter waiting for? If Twitter thinks it can take as long as it wants, we can't permit that," the court added.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, said the rules were notified on February 25 and three-month window was given to the intermediaries to comply with the rules, which has expired on May 25. We are on July 6. It is a 42-day complete non-compliance.

Twitter's attitude "cocks a snook at the digital sovereignty of this country," the government told the High Court on Tuesday. It shouldn't be made out that the government is "some kind of big brother," it added.

The court observed that the Centre is free to take any action against the social media intermediary, We have "made it clear that if they want to work in India, they have to follow the law," the court added.

The court directed Twitter to give clarity on the compliance with IT rules and appoint Grievance, Compliance, Nodal Officers. The case is adjunct until July 8.