Government never threatened employees of any social media platform: IT Ministry

The IT Ministry has put speculations and rumours to rest saying that the government has never threatened employees of any social media platform. The ministry said social media platforms are “obliged to follow the laws of India and the Constitution of India, just like all other businesses in India have to.”

“As has been conveyed on the floor of Parliament, users of social media can criticise the government, the Prime Minister or any Minister but promotion of violence, rampant communal divide and stoking the flames of terrorism will have to be reflected upon,” it said.

The Centre had ordered Twitter to take down hundreds of posts, accounts and hashtags that it saw violating rules. Twitter, initially did not fully comply but fell in line after the government showed the rule book that contained penal provisions.

The IT Ministry, according to PTI, said the recent guidelines pertaining to social media simply require the platforms to put in place a robust grievance redressal mechanism for users. “None of the government communications, either written or oral, have ever threatened the employees of any of the social media platforms of jail term,” it said. “The government welcomes criticism and dissent. However, of late, repeated instances of abuse of social media to foment hate, discord and violence by terrorist groups from outside India and circulation of morphed images of women, revenge porn posing threat to the safety of users especially women users have become grave concerns.”

The new guidelines state that the government wants social media companies to have a mechanism to address complaints from users. It wants social media intermediaries to have the following:

Chief Compliance Officer – who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and Rules

Nodal Contact Person – for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies

Resident Grievance Officer – who shall perform the functions mentioned under Grievance Redressal Mechanism

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The rules call for social media companies to push a monthly compliance report as well.