Twitter has not yet complied with the new IT rules made for social media applications/platforms that have more than 50,00,000 (50 lakh) users in India. The new IT rules are made in order to keep the platforms accountable and solve the grievances of users/customers appropriately. Companies such as Facebook, Instagram, and more have already complied with the new IT rules, but Twitter has not done so yet.
According to a PTI report, the latest statement from Twitter says that the company needs more time for complying with the rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would be hard for the government to accept the reply because other companies also complied with the rules in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Twitter Says Working on Implementing the Policy
Twitter said that it had assured the Government of India about complying with the new IT rules. The social media platform said that it has already shared the progress it has made with complying with the rules with the government. Further, Twitter said that it would keep the communication channel with the government open so that things remain smooth and transparent.
Twitter said that it already had a grievance officer, but the officer was a U.S. citizen. Thus the court had asked the platform to comply with the rules by appointing Indian officers.
For the unaware, a few days back, Twitter was asked by the Delhi High Court to comply with the new IT rules in the next three weeks.
The reply from Twitter saying that it hasn’t complied with the new IT rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic seems like a very big excuse. The platform has already said that it doesn’t believe in the new IT rules of the government.
Twitter had said that the new IT rules would reduce people’s confidence in sharing what they feel like saying to the world and would further result in the invasion of privacy. There’s no doubt that Twitter is now playing with the government, and despite the order from the Delhi High Court, the micro-blogging platform is excusing itself from complying with the new IT rules. Twitter needs to comply with the rules; it will be a matter of just ‘when’ it will.
