E-Paper
Centre proposes appellate panels for social media takedowns
Under the information technology rules issued over a year earlier in February 2021, no such requirement was stipulated
New Delhi: The Centre has proposed grievance appellate panels to take final calls on social media takedowns, according to a draft amendment to the information technology rules released on Thursday. The government has sought public feedback on the proposal.
“The Central Government shall constitute one or more Grievance Appellate Committees, which shall consist of a Chairperson and such other Members, as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint,” said the draft.
It added those dissatisfied with the action taken against content and/or accounts by intermediaries may appeal to the committees within 30 of the decision.
The intermediaries are mandated to follow the directions of the panels, else they may lose safe harbour or immunity from prosecution provided to them under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
Under the information technology rules issued in February 2021, no such requirement was stipulated. The social media companies were mandated to appoint grievance redressal officers to hear complaints and respond within 15 days.
The proposed amendment says the intermediaries must “acknowledge the complaint, including suspension, removal or blocking of any user or user account or any complaint from its users in the nature of [a] request for [the] removal of information or communication link.. within twenty-four hours and dispose of such complaint within a period of fifteen days from the date of its receipt.”
There was earlier no mechanism to appeal the decision further. Now, an “aggrieved person” can reach out to the concerned panel. Once the request is referred to the panel having jurisdiction in the matter, a decision has to be made within 30 days of receipt of communication from the grievance officer, which the intermediaries have to comply with.
Supreme Court lawyer NS Nappinai, who is the founder of Cybersaathi focussing on safety in digital spaces, cited the evaluation of modifications to the intermediary guidelines and added the most significant change expected would have been to the first originator/traceability provision, which remains untouched.
“The addition of a grievance appellate authority may be a welcome move but it will have to be evaluated if such authority can be appointed through rules instead of a parliament enacted law,” she said. She added the proposed changes make compliance more onerous for intermediaries and are ambiguous and open-ended. The impact of these additions has to be evaluated further, she added.
Internet Freedom Foundation trustee Apar Gupta said rather than curing defects highlighted by courts, the proposed changes will increase direct government control over social media platforms. He added that this may lead to a ballooning of hate speech.
