Govt. from grievance committees to Address Complaints Against Social Media.
What has happened?
The center has notudued the formation of three grievance appellate committees that will address users’ complaints against social media and other internet-based platforms.
About three committees –
According to the notification, issued late Friday night, each of the three grievances appellate committees will have. The first panel will be chaired by the chief executive officer of the Indian Cyber crime coordination center under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The second panel will be chaired by the joint secretary in charge of the policy and Administration division in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
GAC under what act?
In the amendment to the IT rules of 2021, the government had introduced the concept of GACs to hear complaints of social media users against the decisions of grievance redressal officers of the intermediaries. The government’s initial proposal had stemmed from users’ complaints about being removed from a social media sites, without companies giving them an adequate avenue of hearing. In October last year, the government notified that it will start the process of seleting GACs amid criticism from civil society activists, who had raised concerns about the government’s involvement in the appeals process.
Role of the panels –
What the changes essentially mean is that in case a user is not satisfied with the content moderation decision taken by a social company’s grievance officer, They can appeal that decision before the proposed government appointed appeals committee. The GACs will adopt an “Online dispute resolution mechanism” Where the entire appeal process, from its filing to the final decision, will be done online.
Resolution in 30 days –
Any person arceived by a decision of the grievance officer of a social media intermediary will be allowed to file an appeal to the GAC within a period of 30 days. The GAC will have to deal with the appeal and resolve it within a month of the receipt of the appeal. Keeping in view the transition period required for the intermediaries as per their requests and technical requirement.
