Govt says they want the grievance officer, nodal officer and compliance officer to be resident in India, and on Twitter payroll.
The Indian government has issued a final notification to major microblogging company Twitter for not following the new IT rules for digital media mediators.
Rakesh Maheshwari, a cyber law team coordinator at the Department of Information Technology (MeitY), in a letter to Twitter deputy vice-president Jim Baker, noted that despite repeated letters from the service, Twitter had failed to provide adequate clarification.
“To date, Twitter has not provided the details of the Chief Compliance Officer as required under the rules. In addition, the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact person you are not an employee of Twitter Inc.e India as stipulated in the Rules. The office address of Twitter Inc as you say is that of a law firm in India, which also does not comply with the rules, ”read the letter, which was first shared on Twitter by ANI.
"As a precautionary measure, Twitter Inc is therefore given a final notification of compliance immediately. Failure to comply will result in Twitter losing its exemption from the IT Act and imposing penalties," the notice said.
Section 79 of the IT Act provides forums of communication 'safe haven' or protection from legal prosecution of content distributed on their platforms. This is because many authorities recognize that social networking sites do not record content but only serve as platforms that link sender and recipient.
Earlier this month, Twitter in a statement expressed its determination to comply with applicable laws in India, but expressed concern about users' freedom of speech and privacy undermined by the new IT Rules. The communications giant also spoke out in fear for the safety of its employees in India, after a special Delhi police cell visited the Delhi and Gurugram Twitter offices to give notice.
On Saturday, Twitter deleted and returned the blue tick confirmation sign into the personal account of India's vice president Venkaiah Naidu.
Responding to the brief removal of the 'blue tick' from the vice president's office, IT Ministry sources, went on NDTV, calling it a "horrific act", adding that the vice president was a post in the Constitution. Sources also questioned whether Twitter would do the same with American leaders in constitutional positions.
Twitter has stated that the 'blue tick' has been removed because the used account has been inactive since July 2020. "As explained in the Twitter verification process, Twitter may remove the blue verified badge and verified status if the account is no longer active or incomplete. "The account of the Deputy President has been restored," the statement said.
The top five Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) officials, a mentor to the ruling Baratiya Janata Party (BJP), including RSS official Mohan Bhagwat, also lost their 'blue tick' certificate on Saturday due to inactivity.
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