News Analysis India

Tag: New IT rules

  • New IT Rules prevent fake news, misuse of freedom of press: Union government tells Delhi HC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre has defended the legality of the new Information Technology (IT) Rules before the Delhi High Court, saying that the rules seek to “prevent the misuse of the freedom of press” and protect the citizens from fake news in the digital media space which used to be largely unregulated.

    The Centre, in its counter affidavit filed on a challenge to the constitutional validity of the new IT Rules, has submitted that although the right to freedom of speech and expression, including the freedom of press, is critical for a vibrant democracy like India, citizens “cannot be treated as passive consumers.

    ”While submitting that there have been “past incidents of disinformation on digital media leading to disturbance of public order”, the Centre has asserted that digital media “allows sensational content being re-circulated in a different context leading to misinterpretation by the audience”, making it susceptible to being used as fake news.

    “IT Rules seek to prevent the misuse of the freedom of press by empowering the audience with a mechanism to raise their grievances related to the content being published by the digital news publishers through a grievance redressal mechanism with an emphasis on the self-regulatory architecture for digital news publishers, and are therefore not only within the ambit of the Act, but also fulfill the object sought to be achieved by the (IT) Act,” said the affidavit recently filed jointly by the Ministry Of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry Of Electronics and Information Technology.

    “Before the notification of the Rules, digital news media was largely unregulated.

    It is submitted that before the notification of the Rules, no such mechanism was currently in operation with regard to news on digital media, thereby leading to a discriminatory imbalance within the news media ecosystem with respect to content on traditional media,” it added.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which were notified in February, impose several obligation on online entities including an obligation to take down contentious content quicker, appoint grievance redressal officers and assist in investigations.

    In its affidavit, the Centre has claimed that the regulation of media content in the electronic form, including news and current affairs content and online curated content, is well within the scope of the IT Act and the new rules do not provide any additional restrictions apart from what is already prohibited by existing statutes.

    The Centre has argued that as opposed to the traditional media, the reach of digital media is “far wider as compared to traditional media” which “makes it a powerful tool for information campaigns by foreign state and non-state actors to influence public opinion in any nation”.

    “Online platforms, for commercial reasons, may have a tendency to retain the consumer on their platform for a longer period.

    This results in proliferation and spread of news content that appears to be sensational.

    The risk of false or misleading information is greater over the internet as the same can be spread rapidly within the society,” the affidavit said.

    “It is an economic environment marked by competition for eye-balls and regulatory vacuum with respect to the content on digital media has led to spread fake news and other potentially harmful content without any accountability of digital news publishers,” it added.

    The Centre has also claimed that there has been no discernible impact of the new IT rules on digital content and “over 1,800 digital media publishers, over 97% of them being publishers of news and current affairs content, have appointed a Grievance Redressal Officer (Level-I), and furnished their information to the Ministry.

    ” The high court had earlier issued notices and sought responses of the Centre on the petitions by Foundation for Independent Journalism, The Wire, Quint Digital Media Ltd and Pravda Media Foundation which is the parent company of Alt News.

    The petition by Quint Digital Media Ltd challenged the constitutional validity of the IT Rules under the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000, inasmuch as they purport to apply to ‘publishers of news and current affairs content’ as part of digital media, and consequently regulate these entities under the Rules by imposing government oversight and a Code of Ethics’ which stipulates such vague conditions as good taste’, decency’ and prohibition of half-truths’.

    The pleas sought striking down of the specific part of the IT Rules on the ground that it violates Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution creating a chilling effect on media freedom, Article 14 of the Constitution by creating an unreasonable classification and by setting up a parallel adjudicatory mechanism to be overseen by the officials of the executive and is ultra vires the IT Act.

  • Bombay HC gives interim stay to part of IT Rules which mandate code of ethics for digital publishers

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Saturday granted an interim stay to the operation of clauses 9 (1) and 9 (3) of the new Information Technology Rules, 2021, for digital media pertaining to adherence to a Code of Ethics.

    A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni said such compulsory adherence to code of ethics was in breach of the petitioners’ right to free speech guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution.

    It also said that clause 9 went beyond the scope of the Information Technology Act itself.

    The HC also refused the Union government’s request to stay the order to enable it file an appeal.

    The court, however, refused to stay clauses 14 and 16 of the IT Rules that deal with the constitution of an inter-ministerial committee and blocking of content in certain situations.

    Legal news portal The Leaflet and journalist Nikhil Wagle had filed petitions challenging the new rules, saying they were likely to have a “chilling effect” on citizens’ right to free speech guaranteed by the Constitution.

    On Friday, the bench had asked the Union government what was the need to introduce the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 without superseding the existing IT rules that came into effect in 2009.

    Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the Union government, had argued that the need to bring in new regulations was felt for checking the spread of fake news.

  • Twitter ‘prima facie’ in compliance with new IT Rules, Centre tells Delhi HC; court seeks affidavit

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that Twitter was prima facie in compliance with the new Information Technology Rules by appointing a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Resident Grievance Officer (RGO) and Nodal Contact Person on permanent basis.

    Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing a petition alleging non-compliance of IT Rules by the US-based microblogging site, sought an affidavit from the Centre to bring its stand on record within two weeks.

    “Chief Compliance Officer, Nodal Contact Person (NCP) and Resident Grievance Officer have been appointed in compliance with the law. That’s the email that I’ve received (from the instructing authority). It’s better to have an affidavit,” Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said.

    The court said that Twitter’s affidavit on its compliance with IT Rules was “finally on record”.

    ALSO READ | Appointed permanent officers in compliance of new IT Rules, Twitter tells HC

    Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter, iterated that the company has appointed permanent officials for the posts of CCO, RGO and NCP.

    Poovayya said the appointed persons will work on a full-time basis and are fully capable of performing the functions in terms of the law.

    “Court gave us a long rope. Finally we have rectified the situation. We have permanent people occupying the position,” Poovayya submitted.

    On July 28, the court had expressed displeasure over Twitter appointing a contingent worker as CCO and said that the social media platform was in non-compliance with the new IT Rules.

    “I’m giving you a long rope but don’t expect the court to do it on and on,’ the court had said. Centre had also claimed that Twitter was acting in ‘abject non-compliance of the rules”.

    ALSO READ | Twitter non-compliant with IT Rules on May 26, named officials as contingent arrangement later: MoS IT

    The Centre said in its affidavit that Twitter failed to comply with India’s new IT Rules, which could lead to its losing immunity conferred under the IT Act.

    The court had earlier granted time to Twitter to file an affidavit to show compliance with the IT Rules.

    Petitioner-lawyer Amit Acharya, represented by senior advocate G Tushar Rao, claimed that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance of IT Rules by Twitter when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 seek to regulate dissemination and publication of content in cyber space, including social media platforms, and were notified in February by the central government.

    The matter would be heard next on October 5.

  • Delhi HC unhappy over Twitter’s affidavit on new IT rules

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up micro blogging platform Twitter for non-compliance of the new IT rules and granted it one week’s time to file a “better affidavit”.

    “I am giving you a long rope but please don’t expect this to go on and on,” said Justice Rekha Palli. She noted in the order that Twitter’s affidavit showed serious non-compliance of the new IT rules.

    Twitter had told the high court that the same person, Vinay Prakash, has been appointed to “two posts” and that it has been using the term “interim” because the appointees are not employees but contingent workers on a third-party contract.

    ASG Chetan Sharma appearing for the Centre said, “The IT rules specify that a senior employee has to be appointed. It cannot be a contingent worker. First they said interim, now they say contingent. This is absolute non-compliance with rules. It’s been months. They cannot continue to have it so easy. This constant non-compliance using nuance terminology cannot be accepted anymore.”

    During the hearing, the court asked, “Twitter has to answer. What is this kind of compliance? How can you have a contingent worker through a thirdparty contractor? Your affidavit says ‘we will make an endeavour to appoint’. Your company is making so much money like the Centre is saying and you’re saying we’ll make an endeavour to comply with the laws?”

    At this, Twitter’s counsel Sajan Poovayya told the court, “We have a problem as compared to other companies because Twitter is still in the process of setting up a liaison office in India. Regarding the nodal contact officer, we have made an offer of employment via a third party contractor to a qualified candidate on July 27 and he has verbally accepted the offer.”

    This forced court to reprimand Twitter and said, “I don’t understand what your company is trying to do. If you want to comply do it wholeheartedly. You are still getting business from India.” Twice before the court had granted time to Twitter to file an affidavit to show compliance with the IT rules.

  • Govt free to initiate action against Twitter in accordance with the IT rules: Delhi HC

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Delhi High Court on Thursday said the Centre was free to initiate action against Twitter in accordance with the IT rules in case it had breached them. Parallelly, new Union information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the law of the land is supreme, adding those who live and work in India have to abide by the country’s rules.

    Justice Rekha Palli granted two weeks to Twitter to file hard copies of the notarised affidavit of a competent officer on compliance with the new rules. “It is made clear that since this court has only granted time to Twitter to file its affidavits to show compliance of the rules and there is no interim protection granted, it will be open for the Union of India to take action against Twitter in accordance with rules in case of any breach of the rules,” the court said, while slating the case for next hearing on July 28.

    For its part, Twitter said it was not seeking any protection. The microblogging site said it has appointed a resident of India as its interim Chief Compliance Officer effective July 6. Regarding the Nodal Contact Officer, it will try to fill the position on an interim basis in two weeks. And the process of hiring an interim Resident Grievance Officer is expected to over be by July 11, it informed.

    While the appointments are interim, it would not lessen the responsibilities imposed on those officers to ensure compliance with the new IT Rules, Twitter assured. Twitter also told the court that its first compliance report covering the period of May 26 to June 25 will be filed by July 11.

  • Centre moves SC seeking transfer of petitions challenging validity of new IT Rules in HCs

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of pleas pending in different high courts across the country challenging the validity of new IT Rules to the apex court for an authoritative pronouncement on the issue.

    A senior law officer confirmed the development. Several petitions challenging the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are pending adjudication in different high courts, including the Delhi High Court.

    The petitions pending in the high court have challenged the new IT Rules intended to regulate social media firms like Facebook, Twitter as well as OTT players.

    Under the new Rules, the social media firms will have to put in place the complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country to deal with online contents flagged by authorities and courts.

    Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court directed Twitter to inform it by July 8 as to when it will appoint a resident grievance officer in compliance with the new IT Rules after the microblogging platform submitted that it was in the process of doing so.

  • Twitter Inc failed to comply with country’s new IT Rules: Centre to Delhi HC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday told the Delhi High Court that social media giant Twitter Inc has failed to comply with India’s new IT Rules, which is law of the land and is mandatorily required to be complied with.

    The Centre, in an affidavit filed in the high court, said any non-compliance amounts to breach of provisions of IT Rules, leading to US-based Twitter losing its immunity conferred under the IT Act. The affidavit has been filed in response to a plea by lawyer Amit Acharya, in which he claimed non-compliance of the Centre’s new IT Rules by the microblogging platform.

    The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on Tuesday. The Centre’s affidavit, filed by N Samaya Balan, working as Scientist-E in the Cyber Law Group with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), said admittedly Twitter Inc is an intermediary within the meaning of provision of IT Act, 2000 and a Significant Social Media Intermediary (SSMI) under the IT Rules 2021.

    It said that in spite of the three months’ time granted to all SSMIs to comply with the IT Rules 2021 having expired on May 26, Twitter has “failed to fully comply” with the same. The IT Rules were notified on February 25.

    “I submit that the respondent no. 2 (Twitter Inc) had initially appointed the interim resident grievance officer (RGO) and the interim nodal contact person. Later the respondent no. 2 (Twitter Inc) informed the answering respondent (MEITY) that the said interim RGO and nodal officer have withdrawn/ resigned from their positions,” the affidavit said.

    “I submit that as per the details gleaned from the respondent No.2 website/mobile application, in the interim the grievances from India are being handled by personnel of respondent No. 2 situated in the United State of America which amounts to non-compliance with the IT Rules 2021,” it added.

    The affidavit, filed through Central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj, said that Twitter has failed to comply with the IT Rules, 2021 as on July 1 for the following reasons — chief compliance officer has not been appointed; the position of the RGO is vacant; the position of nodal contact person (even on an interim basis) is vacant, and the physical contact address, which was shown to be there on May 29, is not available again on Twitter website.

    “I submit that the IT Rules, 2021 are the law of the land and respondent no.2 is mandatorily required to comply with the same. Any non-compliance amounts to breach of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021 thereby leading to respondent no.2 losing its immunity conferred under section 79(1) of the IT Act, 2000,” the officer said.

    The reply added that the immunity conferred on intermediaries under the provision of law is a conditional immunity subject to the intermediary satisfying the conditions under the Act and as provided in Rule 7, failure to observe the IT rules,2021 results in provisions of Section 79(1) of the IT Act, not being applicable to such an intermediary.

    The Centre said as Twitter qualifies as a SSMI, it is obligated to comply with the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021. On July 3, Twitter has also filed its affidavit stating that it was in the “final stages” of appointing an interim chief compliance officer and an interim resident grievance officer under the new IT Rules.

    In the meantime, grievances raised by Indian users are being looked into by a grievance officer, it has said. The microblogging site has also said it may fall within the definition of a “significant social media intermediary” under the IT Rules, 2021.

    The rules seek to regulate dissemination and publication of content in cyber space, including social media platforms, and were notified in February by the central government. Twitter said in “substantial compliance” with Rule 3(2) and Rule 4(1)(c) of the new IT Rules, it did appoint an interim resident grievance officer.

    However, even before steps could be taken to completely formalise the arrangement, the interim resident grievance officer withdrew his candidature on June 21, it said and denied that it has not complied with the intermediary guidelines.

    In his plea, filed through advocates Akash Vajpai and Manish Kumar, Acharya said that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets. Twitter has argued that the plea is not maintainable as a writ petition and that Acharya moved the court “prematurely” without waiting for the redressal of his grievance under the rules.

    It said Acharya had no locus standi to raise a complaint with respect to the tweets in question and added it has informed that the complaint has now been considered and disposed of.

  • In final stages of appointing Resident Grievance Officer: Twitter tells Delhi HC

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Twitter on Saturday told the Delhi High Court that the interim Resident Grievance Officer of the microblogging site withdrew his candidature on June 21 and it is in the final stages of appointing a person for the post of Resident Grievance Officer.

    The company said it is in the final stages of appointing a replacement while in the meanwhile the grievances of Indian users are being addressed by the Grievance Officer.

    Twitter’s response filed in a petition alleging non-compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, in which the Delhi High Court had issued notice.

    The reply states that, Twitter Inc. incorporated under US laws and operates services on micro-blogging platform Twitter in India and the process of appointing a replacement for the interim resident grievance officer who resigned on June 21.

    ALSO READ: First compliance report by Google, FB under new IT rules big step towards transparency, says Minister Prasad

    Earlier, Twitter told the Delhi High Court that it has complied with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and already appointed Resident Grievance Officer under Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021 on May 28.

    A single-judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli sought a response and listed the matter for July 6.

    However, petitioner advocate Akash Vajpai appearing for the petitioner had argued that appointment is not as per rules.

    Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya appearing for Twitter Inc had told the High Court that there was not compliance at the date of filing of the petition but now Twitter has complied with the rules and appointed Resident Grievance Officer.

    The Court was hearing a petition seeking direction to the Central government to pass necessary instruction to Twitter Communication India Private Limited and Twitter Inc to appoint Resident Grievance Officer under Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021 without any delay.

    The petitioner has said that he has filed a petition against the non-compliance of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 by the Twitter Communication India Private Limited & Twitter Inc and seeking an appropriate Writ or instruction against Respondent Centre Govt and Twitter to perform its statutory and executive duty under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

    According to Rule 4(c) of the IT Rule, every Significant Social Media Intermediary has to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer, who shall, subject to clause (b), be responsible for the functions referred to in sub-rule (2) of rule 3, stated the petition.

    The petition was filed by Amit Acharya a practicing Advocate in Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court, through lawyers Akash Vajpai and Manish Kumar.

    The petition said that every significant social media intermediary has a responsibility not only to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer (employee of SSMI who should be resident in India) who will act as single point authority for receiving and disposing off complaints within a fixed time but will also receive and acknowledge any order, notice and direction issued by the appropriate government/competent authority or court of competent jurisdiction.

    “Every SSMI (significant social media intermediary) will also develop a mechanism for receipt of complaint in relation to violation of any provision under the aforesaid rule and will provide ticket number through which every complainant would be able to track status of his/her complaint. Moreover It is also responsibility of SEM to provide reason for any action taken or not taken while disposing off such complaints,” the petitioner said.

    The petition pointed out that Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 has come into force from 25.02.2021 and Respondent Centre had given 3 months to every SSMI to comply with these Rules and these three months period got over on 25.05.2021 but Respondent Twitter has separately & jointly failed to appoint any Resident Grievance Officer to redress the complaints of its users with regard to the violation of the provisions of the aforesaid Rules.

    “At this juncture, it is also important to mention that Respondent No. 2 and 3 (Twitter Communication India Private Limited & Twitter Inc) not only failed to appoint Resident Grievance Officer but has also not appointed Nodal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer mention under Rules 4 of the IT Rules, 2021,” the petition said.

    The petitioner apprised the Court that he is also a subscriber and user of Twitter when scrolling his Twitter on May 26, 2021, found some of the tweets of two individuals very defamatory, false and untrue but when he tried to look for Resident Grievance Officer so that he can register his complaint against the alleged defamatory and untrue tweets, he found no details of the Resident Grievance Officer on the page of Twitter, which is a clear violation of subrule 2(a) of Rule 3 which says that The intermediary shall prominently publish on its website, mobile-based application or both, as the case may be, the name of the Grievance Officer and his contact details.

    Therefore, the petitioner has urged the Court to issue direction to Centre Union of India to pass necessary instruction/order to Twitter to appoint Resident Grievance Officer under Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021 without any delay.

    He also sought an appropriate direction against respondents to discharge their executive, statutory and all other obligations in relation to Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021 without any delay.

    The petitioner also sought direction to Twitter Communication India Private Limited and Twitter Inc to implement Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

  • New IT rules: Facebook actioned 30 mn content pieces during May 15-Jun 15, shows compliance report

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Facebook “actioned” over 30 million content pieces across 10 violation categories during May 15-June 15 in the country, the social media giant said in its maiden monthly compliance report as mandated by the IT rules.

    Instagram took action against about two million pieces across nine categories during the same period.

    Under the new IT rules, large digital platforms (with over 5 million users) will have to publish periodic compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken thereon.

    The report is to also include the number of specific communication links or parts of information that the intermediary has removed or disabled access to in pursuance of any proactive monitoring conducted by using automated tools.

    While Facebook actioned over 30 million content pieces across multiple categories during May 15-June 15, Instagram took action against about 2 million pieces.

    A Facebook spokesperson said over the years, Facebook has consistently invested in technology, people and processes to further its agenda of keeping users safe and secure online and enabling them to express themselves freely on its platform.

    “We use a combination of artificial intelligence, reports from our community and review by our teams to identify and review content against our policies.

    We’ll continue to add more information and build on these efforts towards transparency as we evolve this report,” the spokesperson said in a statement to PTI.

    Facebook said its next report will be published on July 15, containing details of user complaints received and action taken.

    “We expect to publish subsequent editions of the report with a lag of 30-45 days after the reporting period to allow sufficient time for data collection and validation.

    We will continue to bring more transparency to our work and include more information about our efforts in future reports,” it added.

    Earlier this week, Facebook had said it will publish an interim report on July 2 providing information on the number of content pieces it removed proactively during May 15-June 15.

    ALSO READ | Koo publishes its compliance report under the new IT rules

    The final report will be published on July 15, containing details of user complaints received and action taken.

    The July 15 report will also contain data related to WhatsApp, which is part of Facebook’s family of apps.

    Other major platforms that have made their reports public include Google and homegrown platform Koo.

    In its report, Facebook said it had actioned over 30 million pieces of content across 10 categories during May 15-June 15.

    This includes content related to spam (25 million), violent and graphic content (2.5 million), adult nudity and sexual activity (1.8 million), and hate speech (311,000).

    Other categories under which content was actioned include bullying and harassment (118,000), suicide and self-injury (589,000), dangerous organisations and individuals: terrorist propaganda (106,000) and dangerous organisations and Individuals: organised hate (75,000).

    ‘Actioned’ content refers to the number of pieces of content (such as posts, photos, videos or comments) where action has been taken for violation of standards.

    Taking action could include removing a piece of content from Facebook or Instagram or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning.

    The proactive rate, which indicates the percentage of all content or accounts acted on which Facebook found and flagged using technology before users reported them, in most of these cases ranged between 96.4-99.9 per cent.

    The proactive rate for removal of content related to bullying and harassment was 36.7 per cent as this content is contextual and highly personal by nature.

    In many instances, people need to report this behaviour to Facebook before it can identify or remove such content.

    For Instagram, 2 million pieces of content were actioned across nine categories during May 15-June 15.

    This includes content related to suicide and self-injury (699,000), violent and graphic content (668,000), adult nudity and sexual activity (490,000), and bullying and harassment (108,000).

    Other categories under which content was actioned include hate speech (53,000), dangerous organisations and individuals: terrorist propaganda (5,800), and dangerous organisations and individuals: organised hate (6,200).

    Google had stated that 27,762 complaints were received by Google and YouTube in April this year from individual users in India over alleged violation of local laws or personal rights, which resulted in removal of 59,350 pieces of content.

    Koo, in its report, said it has proactively moderated 54,235 content pieces, while 5,502 posts were reported by its users during June.

    According to the IT rules, significant social media intermediaries are also required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal officer and a grievance officer and these officials are required to be resident in India.

    Non-compliance with the IT rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them.

    In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

    Facebook recently named Spoorthi Priya as its grievance officer in India.

    India is a major market for global digital platforms.

    As per data cited by the government recently, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram clients, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter.

  • Koo publishes its compliance report under the new IT rules

    By Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Koo has become the first social media intermediary to publish its compliance report under the new IT rules. This comes at a time when Koo’s rival, Twitter is caught in a stand-off with the government over compliance with the (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 which came into effect on May 25.  On Wednesday, tech giant Google also published its transparency report, saying that it received  27,762  complaints from individual users for content removal.

    Bengaluru headquartered micro-blogging site said that of the 5,502 Koos reported by the Community, 22.7% (1,253) were removed, while other action was taken against the rest – 4,249.

    Similarly, Koo took steps to proactively moderate 54,235 Koos, of which 2.2 percent (1,996) were removed while other action was taken against the rest – 52,239. ‘Other action’ includes overlay, blur, ignore, warn, etc., Koos that do not comply with government guidelines, the company said in a statement. “As Koo gains tractions across India, we will ensure that it respects the law of the land and meets the requirements, enabling every country to define its own digital ecosystem. This Compliance Report is one step in that direction. As part of Koo’s continued efforts to make social media a safer place and provide transparency for users, we are happy to be the first social media platform to publish a Compliance Report. We will continue to make efforts to make social media a safe place for all users,” Aprayameya Radhakrishna, Founder & CEO, Koo said.

    Under the new IT rules, the union ministry of electronics and information technology has directed all the significant social media intermediaries to appoint a Chief compliance officer, nodal officer for swifter user complaints redressal as well as ensuring action on the requests made by the government law agencies, when any content is found to abuse the laws of the land.