Chennai: Twitter has lost its legal protection in India from prosecution over users’ posts because of its failure to comply with new rules requiring it to appoint key officers based in the country, reports said, quoting government sources.
Pointing out that Twitter has not yet complied with all the provisions of the rules that came into force on 25 May, sources in the Ministry of Electronics and IT reportedly said. “Due to their non-compliance their protection as an intermediary is gone. Twitter is liable for penal actions against any Indian law just as any publisher is.”
Since Twitter is yet to comply with the revised India IT rules, it could be liable for content under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act, officials say. Twitter, meanwhile, says it has appointed an interim chief compliance officer.
Section 79 says any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform.
As of 15 June, Twitter remained the only platform among significant social media intermediaries to not have appointed the required executives in those roles despite reminders from the government, it is said.