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‘Twitter has failed to comply with IT rules’: Centre tells Delhi high court
Twitter has to comply with the IT rules, the central government said as it described them as the ‘law of the land’ in its affidavit in the Delhi high court.
The faceoff between India and Twitter continued on Monday as the central government filed an affidavit in the Delhi high court, accusing the social media giant of failing to comply with the IT rules, which it described as the "law of the land."
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"In spite of three months' time granted to all significant social media intermediaries to comply with the IT Rules, 2021, Twitter Inc has failed to comply with the same," the Centre said in its affidavit in the high court.
The affidavit said as of July 1, Twitter has not appointed a chief compliance officer, resident grievance officer, nodal contact person (even on an interim basis), and is not showing physical contact address on its website as mandated under the rules. The document also said IT rules are "law of the land" which the San Francisco-headquartered company has to comply with. "Any non-compliance amounts to a breach of the provisions of IT Rules thereby leading to Twitter losing immunity conferred under Section 79(1) of IT Act, 2000," the affidavit mentioned.
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Monday's development comes two days after Twitter informed the high court it is in the "final stages" of appointing a local grievance officer. The company's interim resident grievance officer in India, Dharmendra Chatur, resigned on June 27, amid differences with the central government over the new norms. Twitter then appointed US national Jeremy Kessel in the role in the violation of the rules.
Also Read: Twitter appoints American Jeremy Kessel as new grievance officer for India
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, were announced on February 25. Social media companies operating in India, including Twitter, were given time till May 25 to comply with these. On May 28, a petition was filed in the Delhi high court against Twitter for alleged non-compliance with the guidelines after which the court issued a notice to the company on June 1. It fixed July 6 as the next date of hearing.
(Inputs from ANI)
