Government Proposes Appellate Body For Complaints Against Social Media Companies

The central government has proposed to set up an appellate authority which will hear user grievances against decisions on content moderation by social media companies.

The changes are proposed through amendments to the Information and Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The IT rules were notified in February last year, requiring social media intermediaries to up their due diligence standards.

As per the 2021 rules, the privacy policy agreements of social media platforms have to inform users to not upload, publish, share information that is defamatory, obscene, patently false or misleading, etc.

The intermediaries are also required to set up a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving user complaints. The grievance officer is required to acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days from its receipt.

The proposed amendments aim to clarify that complaints in the nature of request for removal of information or communication link have to be redressed within 72 hours of reporting.

New Committee To Hear Appeals

The government has also sought suggestions on whether an appellate committee should be set up to provide one more avenue of redressal for users who are not satisfied with the decision of the grievance officers of social media intermediaries.

The central government will have the power to constitute one or more grievance appellate committees, which shall consist of a chairperson and other members appointed by the government, as per the proposal.

People who are aggrieved by the order of the grievance officer of an intermediary can approach the committee within 30 days of receiving the communication from that intermediary. The committee will then be required to deal with the appeal expeditiously and attempt to dispose of the appeal within 30 days.

The intermediaries will be required to comply with the decision of the grievance appellate committee.

However, the user has the right to seek judicial remedy at any time. Any feedback on this proposal has to be submitted by June 22.