Amongst the big tech companies in India, Twitter is currently the odd one out. Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp have already complied with India’s new intermediary rules. However, the microblogging platform is yet to do that.
Yesterday, the Delhi high court directed Twitter to comply with these rules within three weeks. Notably, Twitter had asked the government of India for at least a three-month extension to implement the necessary steps.
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Lawyer Amit Acharya had filed the petition against the social network last week to register a grievance against “defamatory, false and untrue” tweets of some users.
The petition stated that Twitter doesn’t have a grievance officer based in India,, which is against the country’s IT rules. However, as per Twitter, it has recently appointed an interim local grievance officer in India.
According to India’s new IT rules, significant social media intermediaries — any platform with more than 5 million users — have to appoint a nodal officer, a compliance officer, and a grievance officer in India. Plus, they must publish compliance reports regarding complaints they receive every six months.
Twitter has been in a tussle with the Indian government multiple times this year. In February, it was caught up in an issue of first blocking and then unlocking of tweets related to the long-running farmers’ protest by prominent accounts. Last month, Delhi police visited Twitter’s offices, related to an investigation where the company applied a “manipulated media” label to some of the ruling party leaders’ tweets.