Social media platforms: Govt-appointed appellate panels to be set up in 3 months
The government had first talked about constituting GACs in June but had said that if the industry came up with a self-regulating mechanism, then it was willing to consider that instead. However, the industry’s initiative for a self-regulating mechanism failed due to lack of unanimity amongst all the players.
The government on Friday further tweaked the IT Rules for setting up of grievance appellate committees (GAC), which will look into complaints by users of social media firms like Twitter, Facebook and other such platforms. These committees will adjudicate complaints by users relating to blocking of content or accounts by the grievance redressal officers of the social media firms concerned. These grievance appellate committees will be set up within three months, according to a gazette notification on Friday.
The government had first talked about constituting GACs in June but had said that if the industry came up with a self-regulating mechanism, then it was willing to consider that instead. However, the industry’s initiative for a self-regulating mechanism failed due to lack of unanimity amongst all the players. “The central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022,” the notification said.Each appellate committee will consist of a chairperson and two whole-time members appointed by the Central government, of which one will be a member ex-officio and two will be independent members. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the grievance officer can appeal to the grievance appellate committee within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of communication from the grievance officer. The appellate committee will then need to deal with such appeals within thirty days from the date of receipt of such appeals. FE
Source- INDIAN EXPRESS
