The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has framed a new guidelines for social media platforms in India. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 has been formulated under Section 87(2) of Information Technology Act, 2000.
What is the New Social Media Guidelines ?
The new IT rule states that all social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Telegram, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram , OTT platforms are required to employ an Indian based grievance Redressal Officer , Chief Compliance Officer and Nodal Officer for resolving complaints. The grievance redressal mechanism shall acknowledge any complaint within 24 hours and resolve the same within 15 days. Any sexual content and nudity would have to remove within 24 hours of receiving the complaint. Besides, the messaging platforms like Whatsapp would have disclose the origin of any message to trace the source of fake news.
What are the necessities of the guidelines ?
The main purpose of the guidelines is to prevent abuse and misuse of social media. Nowadays the issue regarding fake news has increased rapidly. This fake news spreads misinformation and creates rumours among the masses. Terrorists and anti-nationals use social media to get their job done. Sometimes morphed images of women and content related to porn and nudity are shared on social media to defame women. In this COVID-19 pandemic , misinformation about the disease also created rumours . This rumour led to the sufferings of migrant labours too.
Fake news regarding Whatsapp privacy :
A fake news about the new IT rules has been circulating in whatsapp since past few days , which says that all chats, photos, videos, documents, group messages will be read and monitored by government. It is totally baseless as whatsapp chats are end-to-end encrypted, only the sender and the receiver can have the access of the message, no third party can read the message.
Government statement on privacy policy :
Amid these fake claims, The IT minister of India Ravi Shankar Prasad clearly states that ordinary users of whatsapp will not be affected by the new rules. He took to Twitter and announced that new IT rules have been brought in to establish the source of the message that led to the commissioning of specific crimes mentioned in the rules. He assured that the central government 'fully recognises and respects the citizens' 'Right to Privacy'. He also said that the steps to reveal the 'first originator' of offensive messages in circulation pertain to offences relating to sovereignty, integrity and security of India, public order, rape, child sexual abuse.
Current Scenario :
Seven social media platforms have complied with some of the rules under the new IT rules. Koo, Sharechat, Telegram, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp have shared the list of their Chief Compliance Officer, Nodal Contact Person and Grievance Officer with IT ministry. But whatsapp has challenged the new IT rules and moved the Delhi High court on 25th May. They argued the provision to disclose the 'first originator' is against the fundamental right and 'Right to Privacy'. Though the government dismissed it saying the rules are reasonable restriction to prevent misinformation.
Responsibility of Social Media users :
Social Media has become an integral part of our daily lives. It is impossible to imagine a single day without social media. In this pandemic situation while the social distancing norms have forced people to stay away from each other , social media is the only way to keep in touch with everyone. But at the same time the users must be aware of how to use them. Before forwarding a message we must check the fact about its truth. Awareness about Digital Literacy must be conducted so that the users can use social media platforms in a right way.
1 Comments
Thank you for kind Information
ReplyDelete