Hello Friends, Your social media Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Signal, and other messaging apps. Will Facebook Twitter Instagram Be Banned. and digital news nights go through significant and drastic changes because the government has passed new IT rules that have been very controversial.
What are these IT rules exactly?
And how will it affect you?
And why has it been subject to such controversy?
Let’s see it focuses on intermediaries.
What are intermediaries? Will Facebook Twitter Instagram Be Banned
The third-party enables the execution of the deal between two parties. Legally speaking, the intermediaries have some immunities. If we talk about the new social media rules.
According to these rules, the immunities that these intermediaries had has been removed to quite an extent.
What are these rules exactly? The government has issued these rules by publishing them in the Official Gazette. It is divided into three parts.
Part 1 has the definitions and terms of these Intermediary’s Rules.
Part 2 focuses on social media platforms.
part 3 is focused on OTT platforms and digital news.
Starting with the social media platforms, the government has given three months to appoint a Chief compliance officer, a Nodal Contact person, and a resident Grievance Officer. The chief compliance officer will ensure that these new IT rules are followed by these social media platforms. The responsibility of the grievance officer will be to acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within a timeline of 15 days. According to these new rules, every year these intermediaries will have to send reminders to the users at least once, that if they do anything illegal, their account will be deleted.
The data retention period has been doubled to 6 months, for ” investigative purposes.” Don’t forget that in our country there is no robust data protection law. which data do social media platforms take? which would they store for 6 months? we will have no idea. But the scariest thing in these rules is that these intermediaries will have to enable tracing of the originator of information on their platform if required by the court of competent jurisdiction or competent authority.
Technically, it is not possible, in WhatsApp, and signal. They don’t know the content and origin of the messages. So if the new rules have to be complied with, apps like WhatsApp and Signal, are told to breach their end-to-end encryption. And this is a threat to your privacy. The government may permanently ban them from functioning in India. Various reasons have been given in the new Rules which the government may use to enforce action from these social media platforms.
On the other hand regarding digital news and OTT platforms, the devastating impact that regulating OTT and digital news can lead to on the democracy of our country and our freedom. But the problematic part is that these OTT platforms and digital news are being told that they have to follow the code of Ethics. Additionally, in the code of Ethics, it is also written that they must take into consideration India’s multi-racial and multi-religious context and exercise due caution and discretion while featuring activities, practices, views, or beliefs of any racial or religious groups.
Lastly, another dangerous point in the new Rules is the Emergency Blocking Pawer given to the ministry of information and Broadcasting. in those cases where ” no delay is acceptable.”
Which are the cases where no delay is acceptable?
It is not defined. Many experts have pointed out that these new rules will destroy the foundation of democracy in our country. What new problems did the government see that they had to interfere and label themselves as the competent authority to decide which content is acceptable and which isn’t?
What’s the use of the courts in these cases then?
Why are there four pillars of democracy then?
The point here is that governments are made up of political parties. And political parties are always biased. they do not let the rules be applied fairly. See for yourself. In several states, the criminal cases on goons of the ruling party, are dismissed instantly. There are also cases where the Chief Minister of the ruling party are dismissing the cases against them. Talking about solutions, the ideal solution would be that the courts declare these new rules null and void because it is against democracy and our constitution.
How can you protect your privacy meanwhile?
you have to remember friends that personally, the ” First Originator” rule is the most dangerous. The second solution I want to prepare you for is in case apps like WhatsApp and signal remove the end-to-end encryption. If the signal does not remove the end-to-end encryption and is banned from India even then you can use it through Nord VPN. But suppose WhatsApp agrees to comply with the Indian Government and removes the end-to-end encryption, in such cases, they can use your phone numbers to reach you.
So keeping your number private will protect your identity. So, think about it Friends Will Facebook Twitter Instagram Be Banned?
