Twitter has to adjust to new IT guidelines in the event that they haven’t been stayed, says Delhi Excessive Courtroom

The Delhi Supreme Court said Monday that the microblogging platform Twitter will have to adhere to the new rules of information technology if it has not been banned, Live Law reported.

The court heard a petition from a lawyer alleging Twitter failed to appoint a local complaints officer, node officer and chief compliance officer under the centre’s new rules.

The petitioner, Amit Acharya, claimed to have found certain “defamatory and false” tweets while scrolling the platform on May 26th.

Senior lawyer Sajan Poovaya, who appeared for Twitter, told the Delhi Supreme Court that the social media platform was shut down on Jan.

Judge Rekha Palli posted a notice on Twitter asking them to respond to the petition within three weeks. “I’m inclined to let you know when the rules are in place, as long as they are not followed … you have to obey them,” she said, according to Bar and Bench. “It’s easy, when the rules are there, there is no choice, you have to [comply with it]. ”

Twitter’s attorney said, “Absolutely, no question about it. I have to follow without a stop. The Resident Grievance Officer has now been appointed and that appointment was made by letter of May 28th. I’ll put it on the affidavit. ”

The matter will now be heard on July 6th.

Last week, Twitter said it was concerned about the “potential threat” to freedom of expression as India’s new social media rules come into effect. The company had added that it would “make an effort to comply with the law in force in India”, but strictly adhered to the principles of transparency.

On Twitter, the center had said that the social media platform had to stop to mess around and comply with the country’s laws.

New IT rules

A comprehensive set of rules was enacted on February 25th to regulate social media businesses, streaming, and digital news content. The new rules practically bring these platforms under government supervision for the first time.

Among other things, the regulation “Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021” stipulates that social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Signal and Facebook must now provide information about the origin of a tweet or write a message Request from a court or government agency. The regulation also requires that social media companies put in place a three-tier framework for redress.

Companies were given three weeks to comply. Last Wednesday, the center wrote to a large social media platform asking them about the status of their compliance with the rules “as soon as possible”.

In addition to Twitter, WhatsApp also criticizes the new rules. On Tuesday, the messaging platform challenged the Delhi Supreme Court to challenge a provision of the rules on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and violated people’s fundamental right to privacy. The provision obliges the company to identify the “first source of information” if the authorities so request.

In the meantime, Facebook and Google have announced that they will ensure compliance with the rules. Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive officer, said at a virtual conference with reporters on Wednesday that the free and open Internet is “fundamental”.