Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 24: A number of social media platforms are facing disciplinary actions by the centre, including suspension of their services in India, for failing to comply with its code of ethics framed in February.
The set of Central rules to regulate digital content featuring the code of ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal framework come into force in two days but none of the social media giants including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, have complied with the same so far, the government sources said.
The rules for news sites and OTT platforms were announced in February and they were given three months to comply. Sources said if the companies fail to follow the rules, their intermediary status can be ended and they may be subject to criminal action.
“Though they claim the protection of being an intermediary but they exercise their discretion to also modify and adjudicate upon the content through their own norms without any reference to Indian Constitution and laws,” sources said.
The rules include appointment of India-based compliance officials, giving their name and contact address in India, complaint resolution, monitoring of objectionable content, compliance report and removal of objectionable content.
Under the new laws, the oversight mechanism will include a committee with representatives from ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home, I&B, Law, IT and Women and Child Development. It will have “suo motu powers” to call hearings on complaints of violation of the Code of Ethics if it wants.
The government will also designate an officer of the rank of a Joint Secretary or above as the “Authorised Officer” who can direct blocking of content. If an appellate body believes that the content violates the law, it is empowered to send the content to a government-controlled committee for blocking orders to be issued.
The government had said its aim was to establish what it called a “soft touch progressive institutional mechanism with a level-playing field.”
Notifying the rules on February 25, the Electronics & Information Technology ministry gave a three-month deadline to social media platforms to comply with the new rules. The window ends on May 25.
So far, no company except for one has appointed any such officials, sources said. Some platforms have asked for a six-month deadline, saying they were waiting for instructions from their headquarters in the US.
“These companies are working in India, making profits from India but wait for a green signal from the headquarters to follow guidelines,” sources said. Companies like Twitter, they said, keep their own fact checkers that neither identify nor reveal how the facts are being investigated. People on social media do not know who to complain to and where their problem will be resolved, they said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Monday landed in the office of Twitter in Delhi and Gurgaon in connection with the investigation in the BJP leader Sambit Patra’s tweet on an alleged “Congress toolkit” being marked as “manipulated media.”
“Delhi Police is inquiring into a complaint in which a clarification is sought from the Twitter regarding the classification of a tweet by Sambit Patra as ‘manipulative’. It appears that Twitter has some information which is not known to us, on the basis of which they have classified it as such. This information is relevant to the enquiry. Special Cell which is conducting the enquiry wants to find out the truth. Twitter, which has claimed to know the underlying truth, should clarify,” the police said in a statement about its raid on the Twitter office.
The case involved BJP spokesperson Patra’s tweet on May 18 shared by several other BJP leaders which had screenshots of what he called a “Congress toolkit” aimed at discrediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government’s handling of Covid. The Congress wrote to Twitter saying the alleged “toolkit” was fake and forged letterheads had been used in the screenshots in circulation. The opposition party also said it had filed FIRs against BJP leaders who had shared the documents.
On Thursday evening, Twitter marked Patra’s tweet as “manipulated media.” The next day, the government wrote a stern letter asking Twitter to remove the tag as the “toolkit” was still being investigated but the social media giant has so far refused to comply with it.
In a related development, Patra on Monday refused to respond to summons issued by the Raipur police in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh where also a police complaint was filed against the BJP spokesperson in the same “toolkit” case.