Social Media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram might get ban in India from May 26th 2021. India may face a ban in India if they do not comply with the new Intermediary Guidelines. The deadline to accept the guidelines set by the government is going to on May 25 but so far none of the platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has complied with the new regulations yet.
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) had given a three-month time to the social platforms to comply with the new IT rules in February 2021. The Indian version Twitter, Koo is the only social media app that has complied with the new guidelines ahead of the May 25 deadline.
It is very critical moment for social media companies as intermediaries and criminal action can be taken against them as per the laws of India if they failed to comply new rules by May 25th. These companies has asked for six month time period to the Government as they are waiting for the response from the US headquarters.
As per the new rules announced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the social media platforms will have to appoint compliance officers from India. The officer will overlook the complaints, monitor the content and remove it if it is not acceptable. Such rules are not only applicable to social media platforms but also to OTT platforms.
The OTT Platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime and others also have to appoint a compliance officer from India who has to take care on complaints and act on them in 15 days.