Twitter given last chance to comply with IT rules in India: Here’s what’s happening

Twitter has been at odds with the Indian government for a long time now. In the past, Twitter India and the central government have locked horns over non-compliance of new data norms and over the inability of the former to take down some flagged pieces of content on the platform. Now, word is that the Central government has given the company ‘one last chance’ to comply with the new IT Rules in the country.

According to a report by The Economic Times, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has given Twitter ‘one last chance’ to comply with the IT rules in the country by July 4, 2022, or risk losing its intermediatory status. The ministry’s action comes after the company failed to take down content under the Section 69 of the Indian IT Act and respond to non-compliance notices issues on failing to take down the pieces of content that were flagged by the government.

MeitY, in its latest notice to the micro-blogging platform, has pointed out that the company failed to comply with notices sent on June 6 and June 9 and so the government was considering taking appropriate action against it. A senior official told the publication that “all intermediaries that operate in India must follow the IT Rules in letter and spirit.”

In its letter, MeitY also said if the micro-blogging platform continues to violate government’s directives and fails to comply with the IT Rules in India, the government will take actions prescribed under the IT rules in the country.

“This includes “loss of immunity as available (to) an intermediary under sub-section (1) of section 79 of the IT Act and (will be) liable to punishment to offences as prescribed in the IT Act 2000,” the government official told the publication.

Intermediatory status gives the company immunity from any liabilities over any third-party data hosted on its platform that violates the IT rules in the country.

This ain’t the first time

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the micro-blogging platform has received a notice from the Indian government over non-compliance with the IT norms in the country. Last year, MeitY issued what it called ‘the last notice’ to Twitter for failing to comply with the new IT Rules in India. Initially, the company had asked for more time to comply with the rules. Then later, the company appointed Vinay Prakash as the Grievance Officer in the country.

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