The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT has sent a final notice to Twitter over non-compliance of the new IT rules. Further, the Centre has warned of penal action if the social media platform based out of US do not agree to the rules.
“However, as gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India,” the notice sent by the Ministry read.
The ministry said that it is clear from the responses of the company that till date it has not informed about the details of the Chief Compliance Office as required under the Rules. Further, it also said that the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person nominated by the platform are not its employees in India as required under the new rules.
“The office address of Twitter Inc as mentioned by you is that of a law firm in India, which is also not as per the rules.”
It is to be noted that the Delhi Police last month had visited Twitter offices in Delhi and Gurugram in connection with a tweet by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) national spokesperson Sambit Patra about an alleged toolkit released by the Congress party that the micorblogging site tagged as “manipulated media.”
The action comes after the Special Cell sent a notice to Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari over the alleged toolkit case on May 21.
(With IANS inputs)