Twitter on Wednesday lost the status of an intermediate platform in the country due to non-compliance with the new IT rules. That is, now Twitter will be responsible for the posts made on its platform. After this decision, the central government gave its side. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that many questions are being raised about whether Twitter is entitled to legal protection. However, the simple point in the matter is that Twitter has failed to follow the guidelines that came into force on May 26. Even after this, he was given many opportunities. Nevertheless, he deliberately chose the path of not following the guideline.
Actually, the central government has not issued any order regarding the end of the legal protection of Twitter. Due to non-compliance with the guidelines issued by the IT Ministry, the legal protection has automatically ended. The legal protection is deemed to end on May 25.
6 important points of Ravi Shankar's answer
- The culture of India keeps on changing like its great geographical location. Even a small spark in social media can cause a fire. Especially the dangers of fake news are high. Controlling it and preventing it was one of the new IT rules. Which was not followed by Twitter.
- It's amazing that Twitter that shows itself as the flag bearer of free speech. He deliberately ignores it on the matter of following the guideline.
- Shockingly, Twitter has also failed to address user complaints by refusing to implement the process mandated by the law of the land. Twitter then chooses a policy of flagging such as manipulated media tags that are appropriate for it or are based on its likes and dislikes.
- What happened in Uttar Pradesh was an example of Twitter's arbitrariness in fighting fake news. Twitter has been a little overzealous about its fact-check mechanism. Twitter has failed to act in many cases like UP's, which also points to its failure to fight misinformation.
- Indian companies, be it pharma or IT or others who go to do business in the US or other foreign countries, follow the local laws with an open mind. Then why are platforms like Twitter shying away from complying with Indian laws designed to be a force to be reckoned with for victims of abuse and abuse?
- Rule of law is the cornerstone of Indian society. India's commitment to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression has been reiterated at the G-7 summit. However, if a foreign body believes that they will avoid complying with the law of the land by presenting themselves as the flag bearers of free speech in India, then such efforts are wrong.
Twitter suffered for not following the rules
Twitter suffered for not complying with the new IT rules. And Twitter has not yet implemented the IT rules issued by the government, after which this action has been taken against it. That is, now cases can be registered on Twitter under IPC and the police will also be able to inquire.
Understand the meaning of removing protection in 3 points
- All social media platforms are provided security under section 79 by the central government. This protection was also available to Twitter. In this, the company was not responsible for the use of social media platforms for any criminal activity and the company could not be made a party in any case.
- Under the new IT rule, the government had asked social media companies to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) within a month, who would resolve user complaints. In the absence of appointment, the government had warned of ending the protection under section 79. After this, on June 15, the first FIR has been lodged against Twitter.
- After the government's decision, Twitter is now the only US platform from which this legal protection under Section 79 of the IT Act has been withdrawn, while other platforms like Google, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram still have this. is security.