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'Will pick officer, timeline not binding': Twitter to HC
Under the new digital rules, social media companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to put in place a three-tier grievance redress system and appoint a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer by May 25.
Social media company Twitter has informed the Delhi high court that it is in the final stages of appointing officers for grievance redress but said the three-month timeline fixed by the Centre to appoint such officers under the new IT Rules is not binding.
Under the new digital rules, social media companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to put in place a three-tier grievance redress system and appoint a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer by May 25.
“In any event, it is submitted that the three-month time period is directory and not mandatory and is further subject to just exceptions including Covid-19. It is submitted that the petitioner’s grievance that on May 25 the requirements were to be complied is incorrect and for this reason alone, the writ petition deserves dismissal,” Twitter said in an affidavit to the court.
“When the timelines mentioned in intermediary guidelines themselves are not mandatory and are subject to just exceptions, the question of a stay does not arise.”
The new guidelines also require these companies to identify within 36 hours the originator of a flagged message as well as to regulate their content, appoint grievance officers who will be liable for compliance, and adopt measures such as tracing of individual messages and voluntary user verification.
The Centre and Twitter have been locking horns over compliance with the new IT rules. Twitter recently said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new rules that it said “inhibit free, open public conversation”.
Responding to Twitter’s comments, the Centre had said the messaging platform was levelling baseless and false allegations to defame India and was dictating terms to the world’s largest democracy. The Centre has said that only WhatsApp and Facebook have complied with the guidelines on appointing three separate officers for grievance redress.
The government has asserted that the social media firm has failed to comply with the guidelines, which can result in it losing safe harbour protection granted to intermediaries under the IT Act.
Twitter, in turn, has raised concerns about the safety of its employees in India and flagged intimidation by the police. There have been several instances of confrontation between the social media firm and the government over orders to block access to content and marking of posts by BJP leaders as manipulated media.
In its affidavit filed in response to a plea alleging that the microblogging site has not complied with the new information technology rules despite the three-month window given by the Centre from Feb 25 having lapsed, Twitter has said that it is in the “final stages” of appointment of a resident grievance officer and a chief compliance officer.
The company said it appointed an interim resident grievance officer on May 29; however, even before steps could be taken to completely formalise this arrangement, the officer withdrew his candidature on June 21.
Twitter’s grievance officer Dharmendra Chatur had stepped down, prompting the firm to hire a new official.
The response came on a plea by advocate Amit Acharya, who through his counsel Akash Vajpai, contended that the rules came into effect from February 25 and the Centre had given three months to every social media intermediary, including Twitter, to comply with them.
The matter will be heard next on July 6.
