Famous social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram may suffer a ban in India if the companies fail to comply with the latest intermediary instructions for social media giants.
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) had given a three-month deadline to accept these guidelines which end today i.e. May 25 but none of the social network companies have so far accepted the latest adjustments. The rules will be effective from tomorrow despite these firms seeking a complete six-month delay in their implementation.
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Furthermore, the homegrown social media network, Koo, which is the Indian variant of Twitter, is the only platform that has so far accepted the Centre’s intermediary guidelines. If any of these companies fail to accept these regulations, they risk losing status as social media platforms and protections as mediators. In addition to it, the government of India can also take action against them as per the law of the country for not complying with the rules, as per a government official.
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In response to this event, Facebook has suggested that it will observe the IT rules. “We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. According to the IT rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies. Facebook remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platform,” an official spokesperson of Facebook said in a statement.
Moreover, the government had established 50 lakh listed users as the threshold for describing the significant social media intermediary, indicating that business titans such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google would have to comply with added measures. Guidelines proclaimed back in February, states that the new rules take effect immediately, while important social media platforms will receive three months before they are required to start complying.
Source: Pro Pakistani
Image Source: Interesting Engineering
