Representative file image. , photo credit: AFP
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched on 28 February Grievance Appeal Committee The (GAC) portal, under the IT Rules, 2021, allows people aggrieved by complaints from social media companies on content removal requests to be heard by one of three committees constituted by the government.
This marks a change in the way social media content is moderated in India. Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 The amendment was made last year to require social media companies to “respect all rights granted to citizens under the Constitution including Articles 14, 19 and 21”, indicating that social media platforms must now allow free speech. that are not permitted on their platform, but are otherwise legal to express publicly.
three committees was made In January to receive complaints to implement these amendments. The GAC website is now accepting appeals from the public. IT rules already require platforms to accept complaints against content and have a process for users to appeal against removal; However, the decisions of the companies in response to these appeals will now ultimately be subject to the orders of the GAC.
India is not the only country that is moving away from treating platforms like Facebook and Twitter as mere private “intermediaries” who can set the rules of interaction on their platforms. The United States Supreme Court is hearing cases that, if it rules against the platforms, could force the latter to open their platforms to speech they’ve so far moved to restrict . A brief published Monday by the Washington, DC-based Reporters Committee for the Free Press said it was unclear what the top US court would decide from ongoing oral arguments in the case.
The Software Freedom Law Center on the formation of the GAC said last year, “It is a matter of substantive statutory provisions being drafted through the process of subordinate legislation without any parliamentary debate.” The IT Ministry has indicated that it is working on a “Digital India Bill” to give a strong statutory backing to IT regulations and other digital legislation, but has not published any details of this proposed legislation.