When social media users dispute with content moderation or takedowns by platforms like Twitter and Facebook, they will soon be able to approach “Grievance Appellate Committees,” the government announced on Friday, revising its contentious new IT guidelines.
The modification makes it possible for the panels to be established, which will resolve any grievances users may have regarding how social media sites first handled their content-related and other complaints.
According to a Friday notice published in the gazette, the committees will be established within three months. The action is probably going to be interpreted as a control of large tech companies, which have come under growing scrutiny in India following a dispute between Twitter and the nation’s ruling BJP last year.
Within three months of the information technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022 going into effect, “the central government shall, by notification, create one or more grievance appellate bodies,” according to the notification,
Each grievance appellate committee will include a chairperson, two full-time members (two of whom must be independent), and one ex-officio member who are all selected by the central government.
It stated that after thirty days of receiving information from the grievance officer, “Any individual aggrieved by a judgment of the grievance officer may prefer an appeal to the grievance appellate committee.”
The grievance appellate panel will handle such an appeal “expeditiously” and try to reach a final decision within thirty days of the appeal’s receipt date.
According to the revised regulations, the corporations must respond to user complaints within 15 days or, in the case of an information deletion request, within 72 hours of receiving them.
Elon Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc., finalised his $ 44 billion acquisition of Twitter just as the move was announced, giving the world’s richest man control of one of the most important social media platforms in existence.
The BJP administration has been strengthening regulation of corporations like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has had tense relations with many Big Tech companies.
The country has had significant strife over social media content judgments, with businesses either receiving takedown orders from the government or removing content proactively. Having an internal grievance resolution officer and designating executives to coordinate with law enforcement is already a requirement for social media companies.
