Why YouTube, Twitter and Facebook may stop working in India after 26 May?

There are some new guidelines which are not yet accepted by leading social media platforms, and the deadline is approaching.

The Indian Government in February had passed new IT Intermediary Rules for social media platforms who have over 50 Lakh users. The deadline to comply with the new rules is today, 25th May 2021. If social media platforms do not comply or showcase their support towards these rules, their apps may stop functioning from tomorrow, 26th May 2021.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have not yet complied with the rules. There are also reports which suggest that Instagram and WhatsApp are also yet to accept the new laws. If they do not accept them, we might not have access to any of them from tomorrow.

The new Intermediary Rules asks all platforms with over 50 Lakh users to have three officials who will oversee their platforms and ensure all users follow specific codes of conduct. These new laws have been criticised as they pose threats to freedom of speech and privacy.

Facebook is currently in discussion with the government regarding some of its issues with the new rules. The mega-social-media giant wishes to comply with the latest IT rules while still allowing its users to safely and freely express themselves.

The specific rules are such:

1. Three new officials must be appointed for each social-media platform:

- Chief Compliance Officer, this new officer will be responsible for ensuring their platform's compliance with the Technology Act, 2000 (a primary act created to deal with cybercrime, electronic records, electronic signature and electronic commerce).

- Nodal Contact Person, this individual will be in constant contact with the government and ensure that all governmental guidelines are met.

- Resident Grievance Officer, is someone who will round-the-clock handle complaints and issue pardons when fit.

2. All three officials must be Indian

3. All social media platforms must have a tab over the users' true identity. This means that any message or comment posted should essentially be tracked down to the actual "human" originator and not just an online alias.

- This point was criticised, as this goes against the end-to-end encrypted and privacy policies of the platforms. Furthermore, the government can also use Information Technology Decryption Rules to access any encrypted messages and track them back to you.

4. Artificial Intelligence needs to be added to oversee all posts and messages to ensure any "improper" content is not delivered.

-Lawyers criticise this idea as it can provide the government with a mass surveillance tool that can be detrimental to anonymity and privacy.

****

These rules have been placed; the social-media executives have been urging the government to change certain rules. However, the Centre Government has not replied. We will know very soon whether or not any action is taken and whether it favours the Centre or us.

Conclusively, these new rules are currently under debate due to their privacy and freedom of speech violations. The social-media firms do not wish to accept them outrightly, yet the Centre and Indian IT Department does not wish to back down. We will know sooner than later (possibly tonight at 12:00 AM or 0000 hours) what the final outcome is.