Centre unveils, pulls back plan on user appeal panel against Big Tech

NEW DELHI: The Centre appeared to pull a draft proposal to set up a grievance appellate panel to take final calls on content on social media, hours after it was disclosed on Thursday, when it triggered a pushback from experts who said the plan was aimed at “bringing social media companies under direct government control”.

The plan -- officials said it is now being reviewed -- was in the form of proposed amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which in itself has been controversial and suspended by several high courts in the country.

The new amendments mooted, among multiple changes, the forming of a Grievance Appellate Committee headed by government functionaries to hear appeals by people against decisions taken by social media companies.

“The amendment is being reviewed at the ministerial level as of now,” an official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The official declined to comment on whether the proposal will be dismissed but the draft, which was shared on the ministry of electronics and technology’s (Meity) website in the morning was no longer available. The document was uploaded to seek public feedback on the proposed changes.

According to the draft amendment, the central government planned to constitute one or more Grievance Appellate Committees to receive appeals from people “dissatisfied with the action taken against content and/or accounts by intermediaries may appeal to the committees within 30 days of the decision”.

The amendments would have required intermediaries such as Twitter and Facebook to follow the directions of the appellate panel or risk losing the so-called safe harbour or intermediary immunity available to them under Section 79 of the IT Act. The committee’s head and members are proposed to be appointed by the government, according to the draft amendment that was made public.

The information technology rules issued on February 25, 2021 currently require social media companies to appoint grievance redressal officers to hear complaints and respond within 15 days.

The proposed amendment said the intermediaries must “acknowledge the complaint, including suspension, removal or blocking of any user or user account or any complaint from its users in the nature of [a] request for [the] removal of information or communication link... within twenty-four hours and dispose of such complaint within a period of fifteen days from the date of its receipt.”

There are no mechanisms to appeal the decision after the social media firm’s grievance authority makes the decision. Supreme Court lawyer NS Nappinai, the founder of Cybersaathi, which focusses on safety in digital spaces, said the change will make compliance for social media firms more onerous.

“The addition of a Grievance Appellate authority may be a welcome move but it will have to be evaluated if such authority can be appointed through the rules instead of a Parliament enacted law,” she said.

EXPERTS SAID THE PLAN WAS AIMED AT ‘BRINGING SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT UNDER DIRECT GOVT CONTROL’