In next two days social media platforms has to appoint chief compliance officer

Significant social media intermediaries were given three months time to comply with the new Rules - a deadline which expires on May 26 . Hence, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter may lose 'intermediaries' tag in two days and may become liable for criminal action, if they do not comply with the IT Rules which were notified in February and come into effect from Wednesday.

Social media companies that have more than 50 lakh users in India are designated ‘significant’ social media intermediaries. Should the companies fail to comply over the next two days, they could lose protection accorded to them under section 79 of the Information Technology Act, sources said.

If they lose their immunity as intermediaries, they will be equally responsible for any unlawful content (say obscene pictures or impersonation) as the person posting such content under the Indian Penal Code. The top requirements under the new rules were to appoint Resident Grievance Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Nodal Contact Person and publish their details on their website along with a physical contact address.

Facebook and Instagram did not respond to emails asking why they had so far not appointed executives in these roles, and whether they planned to do so soon. Twitter said it had no comments for now.

The IT Ministry have taken strong exception to the intermediaries’ stand that they would have to check with their headquarters in the United States before appointing executives in these positions.

Some significant social media intermediaries had sought up to six months from February 25 to finalise executives for these roles, but the Ministry had rejected the request and asked them to “strictly adhere” to the guidelines, as per the source.

"They do business in India, earn good revenue but grievance redressal will have to await instructions from the US. Some platforms like Twitter keep their own fact-checkers whose names are neither made public nor is there any transparency as to how they are selected and what is their standing," said the official.