Key Takeaways Definition of “social media intermediaries” too broad. Exceptions for some use cases would have made great sense. Need clarity on the 5 million threshold. How do significant social media intermediaries define “5 million users” — daily or monthly active users, or registered users and so on? 5 million number is very low in India Need consultations for an “intelligent definition” for intermediaries Personal liability of chief compliance officer a might be too much risk for one person Timelines for grievance redressal might be too onerous on companies Rules might achieve opposite of curtailing platform power Compliance burden on smaller platforms high The Information Technology (Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 notified earlier this year change the way the internet is governed in India. The Rules prescribe several new and onerous requirements for companies. For the first time ever, social media intermediaries have been carved out as a separate category. Large social media intermediaries have been prescribed additional responsibilities which could significantly impact their business operations in the country. In a panel discussion held by MediaNama on the Impact of the IT Rules 2021 on Intermediaries, experts shared their views on intermediaries, social media intermediaries and what complying with the new Rules means to companies. The panelists included Urvashi Aneja, co-founder and director of Tandem Research; Harshitha Thammaiah, General Counsel, Xiaomi India; S Chandrasekhar, Group Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Microsoft (India); and Rahul Narayan, advocate-on-record at the Supreme Court. This discussion was supported…
