Unsatisfactory responses led to setting up of the appeals panel: Minister
NEW DELHI: Centre is open to a self-regulatory industry framework for social media companies to formalise how they moderate content, Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday, while defending a proposal by the government to set up its own appeals committee that will issue binding directives on the kind of posts services like Facebook and Twitter can or cannot take down.
Chandrasekhar said the proposal for the appellate grievance redressal committee was prompted by complaints about unsatisfactory responses from the grievance officers of social media companies regarding content takedown.
“It is a part of the Indian justice system that citizens should have recourse to an appeal if they are not satisfied with the response of an intermediary regarding blocking access to content. It is not always practical or feasible for a citizen to always approach a court,” he said
The government late Monday night uploaded a fresh draft of the amendments that propose the appellate grievance redressal panel. This came days after it appeared to pull down the first draft after pushback from the tech community.
The composition of the panel is yet to be decided but the Centre will appoint it by a gazette notification. In response to the earlier draft, experts said the plan was aimed at “bringing social media companies under direct government control”.
Chandrasekhar stressed the proposed amendments are at a discussion stage and added the government is open to other effective solutions to tackle the problem. He said the government wants to make the space accountable. “It is only after the grievance officer acts on a complaint that the panel can be approached.” He promised safeguards related to the amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which have been controversial and suspended by high courts.
“This is an additional avenue for those who cannot afford to go to court. The government is also open to the industry setting up its own self- regulatory mechanism,” Chandrasekhar said.