Twitter Sues Government of India | Section 69A IT Act | IT Rules 2021

Table of Contents

Twitter TakGovernment es Legal Action against of India

Twitter has Challenged the legality of some Block Orders issued by the IT Ministry (GOI).
Suit in Karnataka High Court.
Alleged – Content Block orders by the MeitY are ‘ARBITRARY’ and ‘Disproportionate’
MeitY has failed to demonstrate how some of the content it wants taken down falls under the purview of Section 69 (A).
Some orders pertain to official accounts of political parties, blocking which could be violative of the right to free speech

Information Technology Rules, 2021

Passed to implement various provisions like – Sections 69A(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Purpose-
To provide effective Complaint Mechanism
Online Content Publishers and Intermediaries follow the Law of the Land – Constitution.
Safeguard interests of Netizens

Intermediary- Section 2 (w) of IT Act-

any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that record or provides any service with respect to that record and includes-
telecom service providers,
network service providers,
internet service providers,
web-hosting service providers,
search engines,
online payment sites,
online-auction sites,
online-market places and
cyber cafes;

Safe Harbour Protections

Legal Immunity provided to the intermediaries if they follow the IT Rules diligently.
It helps when some criminal act is carried out by a third party through the intermediary platform.
This immunity is provided to Intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act 2000.

IT Rules 2021-

Due diligence to be followed by intermediaries-
Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with complaints and share the name and contact details of such officers.
They also have to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer, and all these officers should be Indian residents.
This officer should acknowledge the complaint received within 24 hours and resolve the issue within 15 days. (Amendment proposed to this provision)
Intermediaries should remove or disable, within 24 hours of the complaint received, content that displays partial or full nudity, sexual act, morphed images, etc.
They should publish a monthly compliance report detailing the complaints received.
Such intermediaries offering services chiefly in the nature of messaging shall enable the identification of the first originator of the information for the purpose of prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of an offence related to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State,
This can only be executed through an order of a competent court or the Competent Authority under Section 69 of the Act and must only be employed as a measure of last resort.
An intermediary upon receiving actual knowledge in the form of an order by a court or being notified by the appropriate govt. or its agencies through an authorised officer should not host or publish any information which is prohibited under any law in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign countries, etc.