Have Complaints Against Twitter, Facebook? Social Media Grievance Panels Coming Up In 3 Months To Resolve Issues

These committees will be able to review content moderation decisions by social media companies like Meta and Twitter.

Social Media Apps (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The government on Friday notified rules under which it will set up appellate panels to redress grievances that users may have against decisions of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook on hosting controversial content, according to a MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) gazette notification.

The three-member Grievance Appellate Committee(s) would be established within three months, as per the gazette notification.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology, posted the official announcement on Twitter.

"These IT rules are the next step to realizing our goals of open, safe & trusted, accountable Internet & also marks a new partnership b/w Govt & Internet Intermediaries in making & keeping our Interest safe & trusted for all Indians," he tweeted. 

New amended IT rules are next step to realizing our govts duty to #DigitalNagriks of Open, Safe&Trusted, Accountable Internet

Also marks a new partnership btwn Govt and Intermediaries in making n keeping our Internet safe & trusted for all Indians.#IndiaTechade #OSTA pic.twitter.com/COQhGOHv5D

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) October 28, 2022

In the new laws, the government has included offensive religious content (with the purpose to incite violence) among pornography, trademark infringements, fraudulent information, and something that could be a threat to the nation's sovereignty that users can report to social media platforms. Their flagging judgments might be contested in grievance committees.

While huge tech firms advocated for self-regulation, the government appears to have decided that users' objections about the content on social media platforms should be addressed by a grievance appellate authority.

In addition, the decision comes at a time when Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk has finalised his USD 44 billion buyout of Twitter, putting the world's richest man in charge of one of the most powerful social media platforms in the world.

In February 2021, the government issued IT rules requiring social media platforms to appoint a complaints officer. Users in the first level report complaints to the grievance officer about the content or another user.

The rules have now been modified, as announced on Friday, to improve the grievance redressal procedure.

According to the revisions, social media firms must recognise user complaints within 24 hours and remedy them within 15 days.

Child sexual abuse material, nudity, trademark and patent infringements, misinformation, impersonation of another person, content threatening the unity and integrity of the country, and "objectionable" content that promotes "enmity between different groups on the basis of religion or caste with the intent to incite violence" are all possible complaints.

The guidelines require social media platforms to remove problematic content within 72 hours of being reported.

The appellate committees will have the ability to review content moderation and other judgments made by social media companies like Meta and Twitter.

"The central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022," the notification said.

Each appellate grievance committee will include a chairperson and two full-time members nominated by the central government, one of whom will be an ex-officio member and the other two will be independent members.

"Any person dissatisfied by a judgment of the grievance officer may file an appeal with the grievance appellate committee within thirty days of receiving information from the grievance officer," it stated.

The grievance appellate panel will deal with such an appeal "expeditiously" and will make every effort to decide the appeal eventually within thirty calendar days of receipt.

If the grievance appellate committee believes it is necessary to seek assistance from anybody with the required credentials, experience, and competence in the subject matter while dealing with the appeal, it may do so.

"The grievance appellate committee shall create an online conflict resolution platform through which the entire appeal process, from the filing of an appeal to the decision thereof, shall be performed digitally," it stated.

The IT rule amendments, on the other hand, have been in the works for months, ever since users highlighted instances of digital platforms acting unilaterally. The most recent development will provide users with a grievance appeal mechanism in the form of appellate panels that will investigate complaints made by individuals against judgments of social media platform grievance officials.

The government published the IT Rules (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), 2021 in February 2021 for social media apps, online news portals, news aggregators, and OTT platforms. Despite the fact that the IT Rules, 2021 included a redressal process, many user complaints remained unanswered, requiring the government to step in and establish an appellate jurisdiction framework.

After the government circulated the draught regulations for the grievance appeal committee in June, there was criticism from industry and several stakeholders. At the time, the IT ministry stated that "there is no appellate procedure provided by intermediaries nor is there any credible self-regulatory mechanism in place," PTI reported.

"It is planned to establish a 'Grievance Appellate Committee' under rule 3(3) of the IT Rules 2021 by invoking section 79 of the IT Act, subject to any further parameters provided by the central government. Users will be able to file an appeal against the intermediaries' grievance redressal process before this new appellate body," the note accompanying the draught amendment stated.

The government has consistently stated that safety and trust are public policy objectives and missions, and it will do everything possible to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for digital citizens navigating the internet and social media landscape.

However, the digital rights advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation in a tweet said: "The notified Amendment Rules cause injury to the digital rights of every Indian social media user."

STATEMENT: @GoI_MeitY has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022. The notified Amendment Rules cause injury to the digital rights of every Indian social media user. (1/7)https://t.co/W0axL9qjHI

— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) October 28, 2022

(With Inputs From PTI)