Centre sends terse warning to Twitter to comply with new IT rules

The Centre has sent out a terse warning giving one last notice to Twitter to comply with new IT rules.

The social media giant has been asked to name compliance officer as well as appoint a company employee as grievance officer and nodal contact person.

In its letter, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that if Twitter fails to comply with the new IT rules, it shall be liable for consequences under the IT Act and other penal laws.



The letter said that failure to comply will mean that the exemption granted under section 79 of the IT Act will be withdrawn.

"The refusal to comply demonstrates Twitter’s lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform," the letter said.

"Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources," the IT ministry said.

IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in an interview to this paper, said that the social media companies have a social and moral responsibility towards their users.

The new IT rules came into effect from May 25 and have rankled social media companies. WhatsApp has filed a case in Delhi High Court contesting government's demand for traceability of messages. Twitter has described these rules as a threat to “freedom of expression”.