The IT Rules 2021 require significant social media intermediaries like Twitter to appoint officers for specified roles. The Delhi High Court on Thursday told Twitter that the government would be free to take action against the company as long as it remained non-compliant with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. "It would be open for respondent number 1 [the Union of India] to take action against [Twitter] in case of any default of the Rules", a single judge bench of Rekha Palli ordered. The next hearing was posted for July 28. Twitter's counsel Sajan Poovayya argued in court that the company was appointing officers under the IT Rules as "interim" because of tax and financial issues, as the company does not yet have a liaison office in India. Twitter argued that its interim appointees…
