New Delhi: The government will before end of July finalise new social media rules that propose to give users a grievance appeal mechanism against arbitrary content moderation, inaction, or takedown decisions of big tech companies, but is open to any self-regulatory appellate model that the industry could offer for the same, according to minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The government had, on Monday, circulated the new draft rules that propose a government panel to hear user appeals against inaction on complaints made, or against content-related decisions taken by grievance officers of social media platforms. At present, "there is no appellate mechanism provided by intermediaries nor is there any credible self-regulatory mechanism in place", the IT ministry had said.
However, minister of state for information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday that the government is open to suggestions of an acceptable self-regulatory appellate framework that the industry may propose. Chandrasekhar said that the need for an appellate panel was felt as there were several instances of inaction over user complaints, as also cases where users were dissatisfied with the decisions taken by the grievance officers. Government's objective of safeguarding the interest of digital citizens is an important one, he said hoping that the evolving rules and regulations will be taken positively by the big tech companies.
"It is being done not to make it difficult for them, it is being done to keep citizens safe," the minister said. Even after providing for the redressal mechanism through the IT Rules, 2021, user grievances remained unresolved, prompting the government to step in and propose an appellate jurisdiction framework, he explained.
"It is our thinking that if the industry and these platforms come up with own self-regulatory, self redressal appellate mechanism, we are open to it," the minister said, noting that the users currently don't have such a recourse to turn to.
In other words, if the industry suggests an acceptable framework of addressing grievance of consumers to ensure accountability, the government will be "absolutely open" to such suggestions.
"If the industry suggests...their own way of addressing grievance appellate, we are open...this is a consultation... If someone has a better, more efficient solution, we are open to a better idea," Chandrasekhar said.