Has ‘Twitter India’ Really Lost its Legal Shield in India?

New Delhi: After Twitter was once again criticized by Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad , leading experts on Wednesday started a debate on whether the micro-blogging platform has really lost its legal shield. There is no doubt that India needs to ensure that the Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 do not just become paperwork, but are implemented effectively.

The question, however, is whether the country can implement strong action on the ground against social media companies like Twitter for failing to comply with its directives? Based on Rule 7 of the IT (Intermediate Guidelines) Rules 2021, if any intermediary, including any important social media intermediary, does not comply with the IT Rules, they automatically lose their statutory exemption from legal liability.

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In addition, they become liable to be punished for various offenses under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860, said leading cyber expert Pawan Duggal. In this case, Twitter has lost its statutory immunity after the expiry of 90 days from February 25 by not complying with the IT Rules 2021. According to him, Twitter no longer has a protective cover or a statutory exemption from legal liability.

This effectively means that they are liable to be prosecuted in civil and criminal proceedings across the country and they are liable to defend each of them for third-party data or information provided by them, Duggal said. Huh. However, according to the non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation, intermediary status is not a registration, granted by the government.

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The foundation, in a series of tweets, said the present concerns arise from Rule 7 of the IT Rules, but Rule 7 merely states that the provisions of Section 79 of the IT Act shall not apply to intermediaries who fail to comply with the IT Rules. fail. The new IT rules, according to many digital rights organizations, are unconstitutional, the tweet said. In fact, he has been challenged by several state High Courts (such as T. M. Krishna, a prominent Carnatic music singer and cultural critic in the Madras High Court).

Former RSS ideologue K. N. Govindacharya, who is arguing the case of social media designated officials before the Delhi High Court, according to his lawyer Virag Gupta, there are three aspects to the new IT rules. However, only one aspect has been debated regarding the grievance officer, Gupta said. Other tech giants including Facebook, Google, WhatsApp, and Twitter are yet to fully comply with the rules related to nodal officers and compliance officers.

Gupta argued that Article 14 of the Constitution mandates equality, but the government is showing signals to Twitter itself and not taking action against other social media companies that do not comply with the law.

According to IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Twitter was given several opportunities to comply, but it has deliberately chosen the path of non-compliance. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a series of tweets that the culture of India keeps on changing like its large geographical location. Even a small spark in social media can cause a big fire. Especially the dangers of fake news are high. Controlling and preventing this was an important rule in the new IT rules, which Twitter did not follow.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said, it is surprising that Twitter, which portrays itself as an advocate of freedom of expression and talks about the enforcement of the law, has ignored the rules of IT. Prasad tweeted that the shocking thing is that Twitter has also failed to address the complaints of users by refusing to establish a due process of law of the land. Twitter chooses a flagging policy only if it suits it or has things to its likes and dislikes. However, Twitter is yet to react to the latest tweets by the IT minister.

Experts argued that if they do not take effective steps to fight the menace of fake news/misinformation on their platforms, then India has to come out with effective legal provisions stipulating the consequences to be faced by social media companies. Is required. The government now has the option to initiate legal proceedings against Twitter for its third-party data and information. Further, all affected persons who have been affected by the service provider’s inaction can sue the service provider for both legal action and criminal liability, Duggal said.

Experts categorically say that since Twitter, as a service provider, does not comply with the new IT regulations, the government may initiate action to prevent them from providing their service in a smooth manner in the Indian context.