Facebook, Twitter, Instagram could be banned in India
If these forums fail to accept government guidelines, they risk losing their position as communications and protection platforms as mediators. The government can also take action against them according to the country's lawlessness
Large social media organizations such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram could face a ban in India if they fail to follow the new mediators' guidelines on social media. The three-month deadline granted by the Department of Technology and Information Technology (MEITy) to adopt these guidelines expires today which means May 25 but none of the drawers have accepted the new rules. The rules will take effect from tomorrow even though these companies require a full six months delay in their operations.
The Koo home communication platform, which is the Indian version of Twitter, is the only forum that has adopted the Center's mediators' guidelines.
If any of these forums fail to accept these guidelines, they are at risk of losing their status as social media platforms and protection as mediators. The government could also take action against them in accordance with the country's lawlessness, a government official said.
The appointment of a grievance officer may be a priority from the first day of the coming into force, given the importance of public relations for grievances, as well as the need for an application for approval process, the officials suggest.
On February 25, the government had announced strict rules for telecommunications companies, which required them to remove any content flagged by the authorities within 36 hours and establish a strong grievance redressal mechanism with the country's official.
The government has set up 50 lakh registered users as a limitation to define a ‘critical communication link’, meaning that major players like Twitter, Facebook and Google will have to comply with other terms. Announcing the guidelines in February, it said the new rules would take effect immediately, while key social media providers (depending on the number of users) would receive three months before they could start compliance.
Key media companies will also be required to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken, as well as content details removed accordingly. They will also need to have an Indian contact address published on its website or mobile app, or both.
According to government data, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram clients, while 1 account holders, 75 crore on the microblogging platform Twitter. Koo has an estimated 60 lakh users, making it a major communications coordinator under the new guidelines.
