There is some confusion running in chains around about social media privacy. Will this affect everyone’s social media privacy? Let’s know about it.
The new rule says to consider the social media platforms to have a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person, and a grievance officer from India to regulate the information sent in social media. But Social Media platforms say this rule goes against their privacy policies. Appointing local officers to address concerns puts these social media platforms under the pressure of being the victims of their privacy rules, by the local authorities.
What Indian Government says about it?
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday tweeted that the Government recognizes and respects the privacy rights of people. But as some mysterious people originating some communal and political issues through social media which is why they are thinking of renewing the IT rules. And in those rules, the government has mentioned clearly that a hawk eye will be focused on social media users who originate the offensive message. Further, he mentioned that this obligation is going to reveal the first originator of an offensive message which goes against the sovereignty, integrity, and security of India, such as public order, rape, child sexual abuse, etc.
According to the Union Minister of India, the new rule will not harm any of the ordinary users of social media. Rather, it’s a strict measure to prevent abuse and misuse of social media.
On February 25th this year, the Central Government had announced these new IT rules and gave three months for the social media platforms to comply with. The deadline ended on Tuesday, May 25th, 2021.
The Government said it respects the right to ask questions. But the new rules are just to empower those ordinary users who become the victims of abuse and misuse.
WhatsApp has already walked to the Delhi High Court against the new rules. It appealed to the court to cancel that mandatary rule to disclose the originator of the information. WhatsApp said that this new IT rule goes against the constitution and WhatsApp calls it a dangerous violation of their privacy rule. Facebook Messaging App also said that it is an over-ruled decision under Indian law.