Govt announces new guidelines to curb misuse of social media platforms

PTI, Feb 25, 2021, 2:56 PM IST

New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced new rules to curb misuse of social media platforms, as it mandated firms to appoint grievance officer, disclose the first originator of the mischievous information and remove, within 24 hours, content depicting nudity or morphed pictures of women.

Concerns have been raised about rampant abuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news and the government is bringing in a “soft touch” regulation, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while announcing the new guidelines.

As per the new rules, social media intermediaries have to appoint grievance officer, who shall register complaints in 24 hours. The grievance redressal official must be resident in India, and monthly compliance reports will have to be filed by social media platforms.

Key takeaways from the conference

• Content involving nudity, morphed pictures of women have to be removed in 24 hrs
• Grievance redressal official must be resident in India; monthly compliance reports have to be filed by social media platforms
• Social media platforms on being asked by court or govt will be required to disclose the first originator of the mischief info
• Social media platforms must have provision for voluntary verification of users