Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information technology And the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Chandrashekhar said that the new amendments in the information technology (IT) rules ensure that these platforms cannot suspend the account of citizens without following a systematic process.
During a discussion about the rules in the Twitter space on 29 October, the minister said that middlemen cannot suspend or ban anyone without sending a notice and giving the account holder an opportunity to explain his position. Chandrashekhar said: “The process of natural justice, which is at the core of the system in India, has to be followed by every forum.”
However, he clarified that this does not mean that social media companies cannot de-platform an individual. “The process of the future will move away from the arbitrary process of today and away from the process that is non-transparent. So, at the end of the process if you don’t like it you can appeal to the Grievance Appeal Committee (GAC) and if you don’t like what the GAC is you can appeal to the courts also,” the minister said.
New IT rules impose a legal obligation on social media companies to make all efforts to curb prohibited content and misinformation, the government said on Saturday, clarifying that the platforms are working India Local laws and constitutional rights of Indian users have to be complied with. The rules are in place in response to complaints about the actions of intermediaries or inaction in responding to user complaints about objectionable content or the suspension of their accounts.
‘No random cancellations’
MoS Chandrashekhar said that the cancellation of accounts will not happen suddenly as Article 14, Article 19 and Article 21 are now part of IT rules.
#Specific: “What the Government of India does is to provide an open, secure, reliable and an accountable internet to all digital citizens”: Union Minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar@Rajiv_GoI) talks to News18’s @maryashakil
#Online Security #ITRules #Internet #India pic.twitter.com/mdMCf9VYZX— news18 (@CNNnews18) 29 October 2022
Article 14 states: “Equality before the law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws in the territory of India, subject to discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.” Prohibition.”
Article 19 deals with the protection of certain rights of Indian citizens with respect to freedom of speech and other right to practice any profession, or to carry on any profession, trade or occupation.
Additionally, Article 21 states: “Protection of life and personal liberty No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
According to the Union Minister: “In the new rules, we have laid down that the rights of any citizen – Articles 14, 19 and 21 – cannot be obstructed by any forum.”
He said the platform has to ensure that if a consumer is de-platformed, there are sufficient reasons behind such a move, providing evidence that they are not discriminatory or suppressing one’s right to free speech. and are not violating Articles 14, 19 and 21. “Now, it will be extremely difficult for the platform to de-platform anyone arbitrarily,” the minister said.
complaints
Explaining the need for the GAC, he said: “One of the concerns and recurring complaints from those using these platforms was that they had a problem, but they didn’t know who to reach.” He said it was quite “bizarre” that platforms dealing with millions were making no effort to be accountable to their consumers.
Chandrashekhar said the government asked these companies to appoint their grievance officers as part of the framework so that users can send their concerns to the person concerned. “Over the past 14 months, a lot of these platforms have just been for the sake of name someone to occupy the position of grievance officer,” he said, either that person became just a “letter box” or he appointed someone who was “not interested” in redressal of complaints or in the third case. The issue was resolved in an “unsatisfactory manner”.
Complaints of digital citizens/citizens will now never be resolved under the amended #itools – Constitution of a Grievances Appellate Committee @PMOIndia #indiataked #Digital India #New India pic.twitter.com/5NLbAFZnCu
— rajiv chandrashekhar (@Rajiv_GoI) 29 October 2022
“So the GAC came as a concept, as an appellate jurisdiction. If you are a user and you are dissatisfied with the response you are getting from the platform, then you have a way to appeal to the GAC,” the minister said.
He also called the GAC “a digital signboard” on the Internet. On how this committee will work, Chandrashekhar said that if the appeals received are related to IT sector and MeitY, then GAC will deal with it and if the appeal is about intellectual property or patients or e-commerce, it will redirect it to the concerned region. “I have promised that in the next 15 days we will prepare the GAC’s architecture, design and basic terms of reference and discuss with the industry, bring them on board and then inform,” MoS Chandrashekhar said.
New Revised IT Rules are the next step in realizing the duty of our Govt. #digitalNagriks of an open, secure and reliable, accountable Internet
It also marks a new partnership between the government and middlemen to make our internet secure and reliable for all Indians.#indiataked #osta pic.twitter.com/COQhGOHv5D
— rajiv chandrashekhar (@Rajiv_GoI) 28 October 2022
new legislation
During the discussion, the Minister replied to a query regarding the possibility of a new IT Act. “The existing rules are the stone for two new legislations which are going to be part of the overall framework. One is the Digital Data Protection Bill, which will be discussed very soon. The second is the Digital India Act, which will replace the IT Act 2000—a 22-year-old law, and in the context of the Internet, a 2,000-year-old law—so we need a modern law for India Taked and we’re going to draft it. working for,” said Chandrashekhar
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