Social media companies with 50 lakh users to be accountable under new IT rules

New Delhi, February 27

The government has fixed 50 lakh registered users as the threshold for defining “significant social media intermediary”, which will have to adhere to additional obligations and compliance under the new IT rules that seek to crack down on misuse of social media platforms.

The new rules, announced earlier this week, require “significant social media intermediaries” to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer. All three officials will have to reside in India. They will have to publish a monthly compliance report and details of the contents removed proactively.

“The Central Government hereby specifies 50 lakh registered users in India as the threshold for a social media intermediary to be considered a significant social media intermediary,” the notification said.

At present, the country has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram clients, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter. — PTI