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Updated October 29th, 2022 at 22:08 IST

Will social media platforms comply with India's new IT rules? MoS Chandrasekhar answers

Chandrasekhar informed that if any social media platform becomes an intermediary in India, then it is obligatory for them to follow the newly amended IT rules.

Reported by: Mahima Joshi
IT rules
image: Republic World | Image:self
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In an exclusive interview with Republic's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on the 'Nation Wants To Know', Union MoS Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar talked about the recently amended IT Rules and what will happen if a social media company chooses to not comply with them. During the conversation, the MoS informed that if any social media company becomes an intermediary in the country, then it is obligatory for them to follow the newly amended IT rules or else it will lose its status as an intermediary.  

Speaking to Republic TV, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "The newly amended IT rules are very clear on the issue of misinformation. The rules cast an absolute unambiguous obligation on intermediaries and not on the media companies. The obligations are in a way that if social media platforms find any misinformation, they have to take the content down. If they are not taking the content down, they still have the option of having content reported to them and after working on it for 72 hours they can take it down if it is harmful for the general public."

"If social media platforms choose to be an intermediary in India. They have to follow these rules set by the government. I also had a meeting with the intermediaries and they are very comfortable with this partnership model to make the internet a safe place for Indian citizens,” he added. 

The 9 'obligatory' rules 

Speaking about the legal aspect that social media platforms can refuge under, the Union MoS said, "The nine conditions under Rule 31B are very specifically laid out in what kind of content they can carry. The rules are not general. We have even dropped the word ‘defamatory’ because this is something that comes under the law. Therefore, the intermediaries are required to meet the nine conditions in terms of the nature of the content they have on their platform."

‘The intermediary will lose the status, if…’

Talking about what can lead the intermediary to lose the status, Chandrasekhar said, "If any intermediary chooses to not follow the rules. They will immediately lose the status of being an intermediary," Chandrashekar said, adding, "The rules stand rightful and any company, whether Indian or American, if feels that their rights are harmed can move to the court and seek justice for what they believe is right." 

"For the first time ever, it has been embedded in the rules that the constitutional rights of every Indian citizen must be respected and preserved by the social media platforms, even if they are foreign platforms,” he asserted, adding, “Article 14, 19 and 21 can not be violated by any platform. The government is the trustee of these fundamental rights. We are working towards the protection of the rights of Indian citizens. We are trying to deliver a safe digital platform to the citizens."

 

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Published October 29th, 2022 at 21:59 IST

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