Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp are meeting the May 25 deadline to comply with India’s new guidelines for digital platforms.
The new rules were announced in February and required a broader social media platform to follow up with additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief consent officer, nodal liaison person, and residential grievance officer. The new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, also known as the new IT Rules 2021, was promulgated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in February 2021, came into force on Wednesday (May 26).
These rules were introduced to create social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram – which have seen an unprecedented surge in usage in India over the past few years – making them more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platforms.
In a similar vein, Facebook said on Tuesday that it was working to implement operational processes and was working to comply with the provisions of the IT Rules. Note that the Government of India has given a three-month window to social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and others to comply with this guideline. Under the new IT Rules 2021, major social media platforms are defined as having more than 50 million registered users.
However, the social media giant said it was continuing discussions with the government on “a few issues that need to be further addressed”.
The spokesperson added that Facebook is committed to the ability to express itself freely and securely on our platform. The company did not provide further details.
