IT Rules Amendments 2021
Information technology regulations for 2021 (Intermediary Guidelines and Code of Ethics for Digital Media) Key characteristics:
The Mediators Shall Exercise Reasonable Caution:
- The Rules of intermediaries, especially those that utilise social media, require due diligence.
- Safe harbour provisions won’t apply to the intermediary if they don’t use reasonable care.
Complaint Resolution Mechanism:
- The Rules mandate that intermediaries, including those in social media, create a grievance redressal mechanism for accepting and managing complaints from users or victims in an effort to give users more power.
- The names and phone numbers of the Grievance Officers that the intermediaries have assigned to handle these complaints must be made public.
- The complaint must be acknowledged by the Grievance Officer within 24 hours of receipt, and a response must be provided within 15 days.
- Online user respect and safety must be given top priority, especially for female users.
- Upon receiving complaints about any content that depicts people in their private areas, presents them as fully or partially nude, depicts them engaging in sexual activity, is impersonative in nature, contains morphed images, etc., intermediaries are required to remove the content or disable access to it within 24 hours.
- An individual may file such a complaint on their own behalf or on behalf of another person.
There are two categories of social media intermediaries:
- The Rules distinguish between two different types of platforms without imposing onerous compliance requirements on smaller platforms in order to promote innovation and support the development of new social media intermediaries.
- The government has the authority to establish the user threshold that would distinguish between minor and major social media intermediaries.
- The Significant Social Media Intermediaries are required by the Rules to exercise greater caution.
- To be in charge of ensuring that the Act and Rules are obeyed, designate a Chief Compliance Officer.
- Select a nodal contact to collaborate with law enforcement constantly throughout the day.
- A resident grievance officer needs to be selected to carry out the duties outlined in the grievance resolution procedure.
- A monthly compliance report should be published that lists the complaints that were received, the actions that were done in response to those complaints, and the content that a reputable social media intermediary proactively removed.
- In order to prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute, or punish an offence related to India’s sovereignty and integrity, the security of the state, friendly relations with other countries, or public order, or to incite such an offence, it must be possible to identify the first source of the information. This is true for significant social media intermediaries that provide services that are primarily in the nature of messaging.
- A significant social media middleman must have a physical contact address in India on their website, mobile application, or both.
The mechanism for Voluntary User Verification:
- Users shall be given a proper method of voluntarily verifying their accounts, as well as a visible and verifiable verification mark.
Providing a platform for users to be heard:
- Key social media intermediaries are required to give advance notification and include a notice outlining their decision if they choose to remove or disable access to any content on their own.
- Users must be given a sufficient and reasonable opportunity to contest the intermediary’s decision.
Removing Illegal Content from Information:
- An intermediary should not host or publish any information unless they have received actual knowledge in the form of a court order or have been informed by the relevant government or its agencies through an authorised officer. This is done in the interest of public order, the sovereignty and integrity of India, friendly relations with other countries, etc.
Important IT Rules Amendments, 2021:
New guidance for middlemen who use social media:
- Only a small subset of potentially harmful or illegal material must now be disclosed to consumers through intermediaries. These modifications have resulted in a legal requirement for intermediaries to make commercially reasonable steps to stop users from submitting such content. The new clause will ensure that the intermediary’s duty is more than just a formality.
- An obligation to safeguard users’ rights under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution, including a reasonable expectation of diligence, privacy, and openness, is part of the amendment. Intermediaries are also expected to comply with this requirement.
- The intermediary’s policies must be adequately explained in regional Indian languages as well.
Modifications to Rule 3:
- The terms “defamatory” and “libellous” have been eliminated from subclause 1 of rule 3 (rule 3(1)(b)(ii)) in order to clarify the grounds.
- A judge will assess any material that might be libellous or defamatory.
- A few of the content categories in rule 3’s subclause 1 (rule 3(1)(b)) have been reworded to specifically target misinformation and material that could incite hostility amongst various religious or caste groups.
- The Grievance Appellation Committee was established.
- The creation of Grievance Appellate Committees will allow customers the chance to contest the intermediaries’ inaction or conclusions regarding their issues.
- Users can still seek assistance from the legal system, though.
