The social media firms are also likely to list out the operational issues they faced since May 26, with respect to the new IT rules.
Senior executives from social media intermediaries such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, are scheduled to meet officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) after the Monsoon session of Parliament which ends on August 13.
According to sources, a lack of an SOP (standard operating procedure) on the newly enacted Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, also known as the IT Rules of 2021 are likely to be highlighted by the social media intermediaries.
The intermediaries are also likely to list out the operational issues they faced since May 26, with respect to the new IT rules. They also plan to seek more clarity on monthly reports.
The meetings come after multiple exchanges of notices and letters between the IT ministry and the social media firms. This will be the first official interaction between the new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior executives of the social media companies.
The quarrel began in January when Twitter refused to fully comply with the IT ministry orders asking the platform to limit access to certain content in India. Over the next five months, appointment of executives in the role of a chief compliance officer, a resident grievance officer and a nodal contact person or the requirement of tracking the first originator of a message on instant messaging platforms, kept the ministry and intermediaries on either side of a public spat.
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However, the ministry officials said that the fresh mandate now was to find solutions towards ensuring compliance rather than sending “angry notices”.
“The intent of the government was to ensure that these intermediaries remained accountable to Indian law and systems, to the users in India. We have gone through a big pandemic period and everything was abnormal during the three months given to the intermediaries to make appointments. They did what they could, so the practical approach would be to look to work together now,” a senior official from the IT ministry said.
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