Twitter is one of the social media giants. But it is complying with the Indian IT rules. Hence, the Delhi High Court has asked Twitter to give clarity about the stand on the compliance of the Indian laws. Even, the Delhi HC asked about the resident grievance officer’s appointment also.
The single-judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli has observed that according to the IT rules, the non-appointment of grievance officers is indicating that Twitter is against Indian law. If Twitter wants to comply with the Indian rules then it won’t take much time for the appointment. The High court was hearing a plea that is seeking Twitter’s compliance with Indian law.
From the Twitter side, senior lawyer Sajan Poovayya has submitted that the company was in the process of appointing the grievance officer. However, the difference between Twitter’s oral submissions in the previous hearings and its filed affidavit is exempted by the court.
The bench has noted that Twitter’s counsel never said to the court that the company was going to appoint a grievance officer, rather that is revealed by the affidavit. On June 21st, Dharmendra Chatur has resigned as the interim grievance officer. Hence, the court questioned Twitter that how much time was required for appointing a grievance officer.
The court has asked the legal team of Twitter, to immediately get instructions from Twitter’s headquarters. Twitter asked some time to respond because it was midnight in San Francisco, United States of America (USA). Then the court agreed to postpone the hearing to 8th July. Twitter was asked to either comply with the Indian laws and file a reply or face trouble.
The Delhi HC said that Twitter’s counsel has to be ready with the company’s stand on compliance and the present situation as well, and they’ll hear all other arguments later.
From the central government side, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma has submitted that a three-month window was given to all social media companies to comply with the new rules that have come in February month of this year. Even, it has been 40 days after the completion of the deadline. Still, Twitter has not complied.
The HC gave the clarification that it has not stopped the Centre from taking action against Twitter as per the law since that company has lost legal immunity as India’s intermediary.
The ASG has argued that any action was not taken by the centre till now. Even, sometimes, the centre is perceiving to be some sort of big brother. Then, the bench stopped these submissions and said that the court is not the place to tell all these.
As per the Indian new IT rules, the grievance officer should be an Indian resident. Twitter has lost legal immunity as a mediator in India. So, Twitter is responsible for all the illegal content uploaded by users.