Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter Face New Rules in India
25 Febrero 2021 - 5:23AM
Noticias Dow Jones
By Newley Purnell
India is establishing new rules to govern internet firms like
Facebook Inc., WhatsApp and Twitter Inc., a fresh challenge for the
American giants in a huge market that is key to their global
expansion.
The new guidelines, unveiled Thursday, say that in order to
counter the rise of problematic content online like false news and
violent material, intermediaries must establish "grievance
redressal mechanisms" to resolve user complaints about postings and
share with the government the names and contact details for
"grievance officers" at the firms. These officers must acknowledge
complaints within a day and resolve them within 15.
Social media firms must take down material involving explicit
sexual content within 24 hours of being flagged. Firms must also
appoint officers and contact people--who live in India--to
coordinate with law enforcement agencies and address complaints.
Some firms must also help identify the "first originator" of some
messages, the rules say.
"We appreciate the proliferation of social media in India," Ravi
Shankar Prasad, India's minister of electronics and information
technology, said Thursday. "We want them to be more responsible and
more accountable," he said.
The rules are New Delhi's latest move to assert control over
global tech firms that have experienced breakneck growth in a
country of more than 1.3 billion. The regulations also come during
monthslong farmers' protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
government, which have sparked fierce debate on social media. They
have emerged as Mr. Modi's stiffest political challenge since he
assumed power in 2014.
Representatives for Facebook and WhatsApp didn't immediately
respond to requests for comment. A Twitter spokeswoman declined to
comment.
The rules say the government can implement a code of ethics for
digital media and so-called over-the-top platforms, a term applied
to video streaming services like Netflix Inc. A spokesman for
Netflix declined to comment.
Twitter in recent weeks blocked, unblocked and then blocked
again hundreds of accounts for posting material that New Delhi
deemed inflammatory after the government threatened the company
with legal action. That could have resulted in imprisonment for
Twitter executives.
Last year, India banned TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by
China's ByteDance Ltd., along with dozens of other apps, citing
cybersecurity concerns after a border clash between troops from the
two countries.
As global tech players have in recent years poured billions of
dollars into India to get a foothold in the country's burgeoning
digital economy, New Delhi has taken steps to curb their power.
The government has tightened e-commerce regulations, affecting
the way Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.'s Flipkart Group operate.
Indian government officials have spoken about the need for data
sovereignty in India and articulated a desire for homegrown tech
startups to flourish as they have in China, where American players
are locked out.
Governments around the world are examining ways to more closely
regulate American tech companies. Facebook reached a deal Tuesday
with the Australian government to restore news pages on its
platform after a five-day suspension due to a disagreement over
payment for content.
In the U.S., nearly all state attorneys general are separately
investigating Alphabet Inc.'s Google, while three other tech
giants--Facebook, Apple Inc. and Amazon--likewise face antitrust
scrutiny. Tech giants are also facing new rules in the European
Union.
"India is the world's largest open internet society and the
government welcomes social media companies to operate in India, do
business and also earn profits," India's IT ministry said in a
statement Thursday. "However, they will have to be accountable to
the constitution and laws of India."
Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2021 06:08 ET (11:08 GMT)
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