It's done: The IT Rules, 2021, are officially in play. We cannot stress this enough - this fundamentally changes the Indian internet. Please RT this thread on the Rules and how they bring government control over digital media like never before.
https://t.co/S7K9wnIkvI
1/n
IT Rules affect social media, OTT, and news platforms. The latter 2 have been brought under the Rules for the first time. The Rules make platforms legally liable for not complying with government regulation, hence making user experience fall in line with the same.
2/n
Social media platforms with 50 lakh+ users will now be regulated as Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs) with different obligations than Social Media Intermediaries (SMIs). Government discretion in compliance can lead to discrimination which disempowers small SMIs.
3/n
SMIs are now more answerable to law enforcement, with lesser breathing space around compliance deadlines.
Content takedown after receiving orders: 36hrs
Providing info to law enforcement: 72hrs
Requests to remove sexual content: 24hrs
Redressal by grievance officers: 15 days
4/n
The data retention period for SMIs has been doubled to 6 months for investigative purposes. Data will be preserved even if accounts are deleted. We are challenging this in the Supreme Court because such data retention in the absence of a data protection law is dangerous.
5/n