The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had given the organisations a three-month deadline to accept the guidelines by May 25, but none have done so yet, with the exception of Koo, India’s version of Twitter.
Despite these companies’ requests for a six-month delay in implementation, the rules will take effect on May 26.
Will Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, be truly banned in the country if they do not follow the new rules?
If any of these social media platforms refuses to accept these guidelines, they risk losing their status as social media platforms as well as their intermediary protections. According to a government official, the government can take legal action against them if they do not follow the rules.
This does not, however, imply that Indian users will be unable to access these social media platforms as of tomorrow. Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist and the founder of MediaNama, explained:
The government is unlikely to enforce all of the provisions and hold social media platforms accountable unless it is absolutely necessary, because the platforms could then challenge the guidelines in court.
He explained that the government doesn’t want to give Facebook and Twitter a reason to sue because the rules are “unconstitutional,” and the government doesn’t want to be embarrassed in court.
He added: “The rules are already being challenged on such grounds.”
In addition, the Centre was expected to release a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to explain how these guidelines are being implemented. However, those have yet to be released, and the deadline may be extended to allow the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to work out the kinks.
Moreover, Pahwa said, “there is zero chance of the government blocking United States-based platforms because of the power that the US government wields. There is ZERO chance of the Indian govt blocking US platforms when Jaishankar is in the US to engage with the US government”.
What are the guidelines that the Centre is requesting that all social media platforms follow?
On February 25, the government announced new regulations for social media companies, requiring them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and establishing a robust complaint redress system with a local officer.
The government had set 50 lakh registered users as the threshold for defining ”significant social media intermediary”, meaning that large players like Twitter, Facebook and Google would have to comply with additional norms.
Announcing the guidelines in February, it had said the new rules take effect immediately, while significant social media providers (based on the number of users) will get three months before they need to start complying.
The three-month deadline meant that compliance had to be met by May 25.
Significant social media companies will also be required to publish a monthly compliance report that includes information on complaints received and actions taken, as well as information on content that was proactively removed. They’ll also have to publish a physical contact address in India on their website, mobile app, or both.
The new rules were enacted to make social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram, which have seen massive growth in India in recent years, more accountable and responsible for the content they host.
Notably, the rules require significant social media intermediaries – who primarily provide messaging services – to allow for the identification of the “first originator” of information that threatens India’s sovereignty, security, or public order.
However, the intermediary will not be required to reveal the contents of any messages. This could have far-reaching consequences for companies like Twitter and WhatsApp.
