Google, Facebook & WhatsApp Complied with IT Rules; Twitter is an Exception: Govt

Update: May 28, 2021
Google, Facebook & WhatsApp Complied with IT Rules; Twitter is an Exception: Govt

Top Internet companies including Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp along with large home-grown platforms like Sharechat and Koo have complied with the new IT rules and have responded to the government letter providing details of their chief compliance officer, nodal contact person, and grievance officer.

Prominent platforms such as Telegram and LinkedIn, which have a large presence in India, have also shared these details with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) which had sent them a letter on Wednesday — marking the last day of compliance with the new Rules called the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Officials also said that Twitter is an exception and has not complied with the requirements.

“After a firm response from the Government yesterday, Twitter sent a communication late last night, sharing details of a lawyer working in a law firm in India as their Nodal Contact Person and Grievance Officer,” said the officials adding that the Rules require these officers to be employees of the company and they should be resident in India. The Jack Dorsey founded firm has also not sent details of the Chief Compliance Officer to the government.

The government had written a letter to the significant social media intermediaries — defined as those having more than 5 million registered users in India — asking them for details of these officers, details of their physical office in India along with the compliance status with the rules.