India / Law of land supreme, Twitter must follow rules: New IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi: The law of the land is supreme, new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday in stern warning to Twitter, urging the social media giant to follow rules.

The statement comes amid a bitter standoff between Twitter and the government over the new IT rules that make social media websites more accountable for the third-party content.

Earlier in the day, the micro-blogging site told the Delhi High Court it needed eight weeks to appoint a grievance officer who is an Indian citizen, which is one of the provisions of the new legislation. It also told the court that it is in the process of setting up a liaison office in India, in compliance with the IT rules. This office will be their permanent physical contact.

On Tuesday, the court had accused Twitter of misleading it by not informing that the Grievance Officer appointed was merely interim in nature. The rap came a day after the Centre told the Delhi High Court that the social media giant has failed to comply with India’s new IT Rules, which could lead to losing its immunity conferred under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The Centre, in an affidavit filed in the high court, said as per the details obtained from Twitter’s website or mobile application, as an interim, the grievances from India are being handled by the platform’s official located in the US which amounts to non-compliance of the IT Rules, 2021.

The IT Rules, 2021 are the law of the land and Twitter is mandatorily required to comply with the same, said the affidavit filed in response to a plea by lawyer Amit Acharya, in which he claimed non-compliance of the Centre’s new IT Rules by the microblogging platform.

Saying Twitter cannot be permitted to take as much time as it wants to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it expects the micro-blogging site to inform it on Thursday about its stand “regarding complying with all other provisions” of IT Rules, 2021.

India’s new IT rules which became effective end-May are aimed at regulating content on social media firms and making them more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages.

Former Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had slammed Twitter for deliberately defying the law and said all social media firms must abide by the new rules.

In recent weeks, as acrimony grew between New Delhi and Twitter, police have filed at least five cases against the company or its officials, including some related to child pornography and a controversial map of India on its career page.