On Friday, Twitter informed the Court of the appointment of the permanent officers in the ongoing case involving Twitter's non-compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. (IT Rules, 2021).
The government responded after Justice Rekha Palli requested a response to an affidavit submitted by Twitter verifying their appointments. The top court is considering a petition alleging that the microblogging service violated IT Rules.
Additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, appearing on behalf of the Central government, requested time on Tuesday to file an affidavit on the subject, and the Court granted two weeks for the same. The next hearing has been scheduled on October 5.
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Twitter's senior lawyer, Sajan Poovayya, reiterated that the firm has hired permanent personnel to the positions of CCO, RGO, and NCP.
He informed the court that these appointees work full-time and are fully competent of carrying out their duties in accordance with the law. "We have permanent employees in that capacity," Poovayya explained.
Twitter earlier named Vinay Prakash as it’s resident grievance officer in India, who will be based in Bengaluru.
The ongoing battle between the government and Twitter began in February of this year, when the government published a new set of guidelines for social media platforms and digital news outlets known as the 'Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code.' They claimed, among other things, that social media firms such as Twitter and Facebook must filter speech using a broader – and more ambiguous – set of criteria, establish a compliance team based in India, and remove information within 36 hours of being asked to do so by the government.
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The government had informed the Delhi High Court (in July) that Twitter has lost its safe harbour status owing to non-compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021.
