Thread by @BiIndia

#Facebook and #Twitter have a ton of new rules to abide by in India ⁠— #WhatsApp may find itself in the toughest spot of all

businessinsider.in/tech/news/face…

By @pabsgill

@pabsgill Along with the rules, came a stern message from the Minister for IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who essentially told these platforms to brace for increased scrutiny and compliance.

#SocialMedia

@pabsgill #WhatsApp will be in the toughest spot of all with the government mandating the tracking of ‘first originator’ or the ‘creator of mischief’, which would mean breaking the end-to-end encryption.

#SocialMedia

“All social media is welcome, but — no disrespect — there should not be double standards,” said Prasad. These new rules are applicable for 'significant' social media intermediaries based on the number of users, which have not been specified yet.

#SocialMedia

India also wants social media platforms to verify users’ identity, citing Aadhar or mobile numbers, as possible methods.

#SocialMedia

According to Prasad, social media intermediaries will have to appoint a grievance officer. They are required to register grievance complaints within 24 hours and address the issue within a space of 15 days.

#SocialMedia

Complaints against those posts which include nudity, sexual acts, or impersonation — social media platforms will be required to remove that content within a span of 24 hours. “This provision is designed to respect the dignity of the users in India,” said Prasad.

#SocialMedia

Indian government assumes the right to block digital news content along with a new set of regulations

#DigitalNewsMedia

businessinsider.in/india/news/ind…

By @jainrounak

@jainrounak #Netflix, #Amazon, #DisneyPlusHotstar will now have to classify their content according to age in India

#OTTguidelines

businessinsider.in/policy/news/ne…

By @SanchDash

@jainrounak @SanchDash #OTTplatforms will also have a three-tier redressal mechanism and they have three months to put this in place.

#OTTGuidelines

"We have always been clear as a company that we welcome regulations that set guidelines for addressing today’s toughest challenges on the Internet. Facebook is committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platforms.

...The details of rules like these matter and we will carefully study the new rules that were just published. We acknowledge and appreciate the recognition from the Minister on the positive contributions of social media to the country.

Facebook is an ally for India and the agenda of user safety and security is a critical one for our platforms. We will continue to work to ensure that our platforms play an enabling role in fuelling the exciting digital transformation of India.": Facebook Spokesperson