Portal opened for complaints against decisions of social media platforms

Subject: Polity

Section: MSc

Concept:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has launched a Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) portal under the Information Technology Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).
This portal allows people who are dissatisfied with the resolution of their complaints to social media companies on content takedown requests, to be heard by one of the three committees set up by the government.
Three committees were constituted in January 2023 to receive complaints and enforce the recent amendment to IT Rules.
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were amended which mandated that social media companies must “respect all the rights accorded to the citizens under the Constitution, including in the articles 14, 19 and 21.”
This made the social media platforms allow such speech that was not allowed on their platforms but was otherwise legal to express in public.
The IT Rules further have provisions that require platforms to have a process for accepting complaints against content and appeals against takedowns from users.
Further, the IT Ministry has said that efforts are being made to formulate a “Digital India Bill” to extend statutory support to the IT Rules.

Grievance Appellate Committees

The appellate committees will deal with the pleas by users against the decision of the Grievance Officer appointed by the social media intermediary.
The committee will have a chairperson and other members selected by the central government.
Any individual who feels treated unfairly by a decision made by a social media network grievance officer may make a complaint with the grievance appellate committee within 30 days of receiving notification from the grievance officer.
The Grievance Appellate Committee will answer the appeal quickly and try to decide on it within 30 days of the appeal’s acceptance.
The relevant intermediary is required to follow any orders made by the Grievance Appellate Committee.
The Grievance Appellate Committee is an essential part of the entire policy and legislative framework to guarantee that the internet in India is accessible, trustworthy, and accountable.

About Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, was notified by the Central government on February 25, 2021, relates to digital news publishers, including websites, portals and YouTube news channels, and Over the Top (OTT) platforms, which stream online contents such as web series and films.
It is jointly administered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The Rules provide for a code of ethics to be followed by digital news publishers and OTT platforms; A three-tier grievance redress mechanism, which includes:
- Self-regulation by publishers at the first level
- Self-regulation by Self-regulating bodies of the publishers
- An oversight mechanism by the Central government