Our Associate, Vishesh Kumar discusses "Regulations on
Online Speech: Excessive Censorship or Much Needed?"
Over the past few months, there
have been calls from various sections of society for censuring
online platforms and putting in a more regulated framework for
content on the Internet. While the Internet has historically been a
bastion for free speech, the government recently bought in the
Information Technology Rules, 2021 with an aim to regulate,
inter alia, social media platforms and online curated
content websites.
Under the new rules, social media
platforms have been divided into 'Social Media
Intermediaries' and 'Significant Social Media
Intermediaries' on the basis of the number of users. Further,
Significant Social Media Intermediaries have been asked to, as a
part of due diligence, appoint a Chief Compliance Officer to ensure
compliance with the rules and a Resident Grievance Officer to deal
with the complaints in an expedited manner.
