As UP police file FIR on fake news, Twitter loses the immunity shield it had in India. Can now be sued for content

Social media giant Twitter has lost its intermediary status in India for failing to comply with new information technology rules, which came into effect on May 26, reports The Times of India.

According to reports, as Twitter India failed to comply with IT rules enforced by the Indian government and failed to appoint legal compliance officers criminally responsible for content posted on the platform within the time limit, the statute platform intermediary has automatically expired.

The loss of intermediary status could mean that its top executives, including the country’s chief executive, could now face police questioning and criminal liability under the IPC for “illegal” and “illegal” content. incendiary ”posted on the platform by any user. Twitter’s legal immunity from in-country content moderation has officially ended.

The Indian government is reportedly unhappy with the cheekiness of the social media company, which has continually evaded compliance with Indian rules. The government believes the repeated reminders and even the temporary easing that has been extended to the social media giant as a “goodwill gesture” have not yielded results.

The Indian government had given Twitter enough time to comply with Indian laws
Indeed, the government had sent “one last opinion” to Twitter, asking it to comply with the statutory provisions of the new IT rules under penalty of losing legal immunity vis-à-vis any third-party content published on the platform. However, the company continued to sidestep such advice by claiming it would make the appointment within a week. However, the government is still awaiting such an appointment.

With this, Twitter became the only American platform to have lost the immunity – granted under section 79 of the computer law, even though Google, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram continue to enjoy the protection, Times of India cited some officials. sources.

Section 79 of the Information Technology Act grants social media companies the status of intermediary, which gives them exemptions and some immunity from liability for any third-party content and data hosted by them.

“It is evident that despite the repeated indulgences granted, including the last notice on June 5 as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter did not comply with the rules of interim directives under the Law on Internet Technologies. information having the force of law because they have been framed in the exercise of powers under Article 87 of the IT law.Rule 7 of the rules very clearly requires that when an intermediary does not comply with these rules, the provisions of the paragraph (1) of Article 79 of the Computer Law will not apply to this intermediary, and the intermediary will be liable to a penalty under any law including the law on computers as well as criminal laws of India regarding illegal content posted on this platform, ”government sources said.

Twitter fails to comply with Indian laws after repeated notifications and loses intermediary status
Twitter strongly opposes the new digital rules notified by the Indian government. Even though other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp have complied with the new laws, Twitter last month asked the government for three more months for the same.

The 2021 Information Technology Rules (Intermediary Guidelines and Code of Ethics for Digital Media), which were announced in February and went into effect on May 25, require social media intermediaries with more of 5 million users and providing email services to identify the first author of problems. content likely to harm the interests of the country. Companies should also appoint an Indian grievance officer to handle complaints.

One of the most important provisions of these rules is that if the social media platforms do not comply with the provisions prescribed in the directives, it will result in criminal provisions according to the law on information technology. The new guidelines state that social media intermediaries must follow the due diligence mentioned therein, and if an intermediary does not follow the due diligence, the Safe Harbor provisions will not apply to them.

Failure to comply with the rules will result in these platforms losing their intermediary status, which gives them immunity from liability with regard to the third-party data they host. In other words, they could be subject to criminal prosecution if there are complaints.

Now, after losing the shield of immunity as an “intermediary,” under the new IT rules, Twitter officials are liable to prosecution under the IT law. As they will be held responsible for any content that is not authorized as directed, those responsible for social media companies will be liable for such content. This implies that those responsible for social media will also be punished according to the nature of the offense, which is defined in the IT law for different types of offenses.

As the Indian government enforced the new IT rules, Twitter India cried foul, saying it was very concerned about the rules that make the compliance officer criminally responsible for content posted on the platform. He had not, however, explained why he had not tried to comply with Indian laws, even after more than three months of delay given to him.

First case filed against Twitter India
The government of Uttar Pradesh has taken action against Twitter India for failing to remove tweets spreading disinformation about a crime in the state. An FIR has been filed against the social media platform as part of the same.

During the incident, a Muslim was beaten by a few individuals. However, alleged fact-checkers gave the crime a common color, saying he was beaten for refusing to sing Jai Shri Ram. However, after investigating the matter, police in Ghaziabad debunked the fictitious story being disseminated in an attempt to spark community tensions. The original video was reviewed, which showed no mention of “Jai Shri Ram”.

Ghaziabad police said ‘victim’ Abdul Samad Saifi was beaten by people he knew after an occult amulet he prepared for one of them did not work as promised . Defendants Parvesh Gujjar, Adil and Kallu were arrested on Monday as they tried to arrest Arif and Poli.

As a result of the Uttar Pradesh Police investigation, a complaint against Twitter was filed for taking no action against the manipulated media.

FIR filed by UP Police names Alt News co-founder Md Zubair, who shared a video of the incident with muted sound, and claimed the old man was forced to sing “Jai Shri Ram”. Other defendants named in the FIR include Rana Ayyub, leftist propaganda site The Wire, Salman Nizami, Maksoor Usmani, Congress spokesman Dr. Sama Mohammad, Saba Naqvi, Twitter Inc, and Twitter Communications India Ltd.

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