Is the microblogging platform’s “legal shield” in India really gone?
New Delhi: Leading experts debated on Wednesday whether Twitter had lost its “legal protection” in the country from punishment over posts, with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad criticising the microblogging network once again, ironically in a series of tweets.
Without a doubt, India must guarantee that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 are not merely paper tigers but are successfully implemented.
Can the country, on the other hand, impose severe penalties on social media companies like Twitter for failing to follow its rules?
By Rule 7 of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Regulations 2021, an intermediary, including any prominent social media intermediary, loses their statutory immunity from legal liability the moment they do not comply with the IT rules.
“They are also likely to be prosecuted under the Information Technology Act of 2000 and the Indian Penal Code of 1860 for a variety of offences. In this case, Twitter’s statutory immunity was revoked after 90 days expired on February 25, due to its failure to comply with the IT norms 2021 “Pavan Duggal, a top cyber law expert, told IANS.
Twitter, he claims, no longer enjoys the “Suraksha kavach,” or legislative immunity from legal accountability.
“This practically means they are liable to be sued in civil and criminal cases across the country, and they are obligated to defend each of them for third-party data or information made available by them,” Duggal continued.
Minister Prasad claims that Twitter was given many opportunities to comply with the rules, but that it “deliberately decided” to ignore them.
“With the amplification of social media, even a small spark can start a conflagration in some situations, especially with the threat of fake news. One of the goals of the Intermediary Guidelines was to achieve this “In a series of tweets, he stated.
“Furthermore, it is confusing that Twitter fails to address user issues by refusing to establish a mechanism as required by law. It also has a strategy of only flagging distorted media when it meets its tastes and dislikes “Added the Minister of Information Technology.
Twitter has yet to respond to IT Minister’s newest tweets.
Experts suggest that India needs to develop robust legal measures that spell out the repercussions that social media companies will face if they fail to take meaningful actions to combat the threat of false news and misinformation on their platforms.
The government’s options now include bringing legal action against Twitter for third-party data and information.
“Furthermore, all impacted persons who have been harmed by the service provider’s inactions can sue the service provider for both legal and criminal culpability,” stated Duggal.
Because Twitter, as a service provider, has failed to comply with the new IT laws, the government may take steps to prevent them from providing their service “seamlessly in the Indian context,” according to the experts.
