Being a significant social media intermediary, Twitter is mandated by the IT Rules to make permanent appointments to key managerial positions. You are reading it here first: Twitter has appointed Shahin Komath, a former executive at Bytedance as the permanent nodal contact person (NCP) for Twitter in India. Although Komath was not named, the fact that the microblogging platform has appointed a permanent NCP along with a permanent grievance redressal-cum-chief compliance officer was conveyed to the Delhi High Court on Friday. When MediaNama contacted Komath, he confirmed the appointment; however, he refused to comment in this regard. According to the IT Rules 2021, a Nodal Contact Person will be responsible for "24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies" for ensuring compliance to their orders or requisitions. It is mandatory for the person to be a resident of India. Komath's LinkedIn page described him as the former Nodal and Grievance Officer of ByteDance from March 2020 to January 2021. He was also the Nodal and Regulatory Officer for Vodafone Idea from December 2011 to March 2020. His LinkedIn page also said that he was an advocate at the Kerala High Court for a year. Why it matters? Twitter's appointment of a permanent nodal contact person would mean that the microblogging platform is now in full compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Since the IT Rules came into effect, Twitter took more than a month to partially comply with the rules. In the meantime, several cases…
