Amendments to IT Rules Notified

On 28th October 2022, the Central Government notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022. The Rules came into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

As per the new guidelines, “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 objective of setting up such multiple Grievance Appellate Committees is to provide a platform to the users of social media applications, including twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc an alternate means to settle disputes, apart from approaching the courts.

Further, the Rules envisage a shorter timeline of 24 hours to take necessary action on sensitive content while directing the Intermediaries to conduct due diligence in accordance with Article 14- Right to equality, Article 19 -Right to freedom, and Article 21- Right to life of the Constitution. It also mandates them to take reasonable measures to ensure accessibility of its services to its users while practicing due diligence, privacy, and transparency.  Further, the Rules allow the privacy policy to be published in other regional languages.