The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reprimanded the microblogging website Twitter for failure to comply with new IT rules implemented by the central government. During the hearing, Twitter admitted that it has not yet fully complied with the new rules.
Expressing displeasure over this, the Delhi HC said that Twitter is violating the law by not appointing Grievance Redressal Officer under the new IT Rules.
A bench of Justice Rekha Palli told Twitter's counsel, "Come up with a clear response, otherwise you will be in trouble", and sought information on Twitter`s compliance with other provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) by the next date of hearing.
The court also gave a free pass to the central government to act against the social media firm.
"We are not stopping you from taking action, court has not granted any protection to Twitter. If they are in violation, you know what to do," it noted.
The court also slammed Twitter and asked how much time will it take for the appointment of the Grievance Officer. "If Twitter feels that it can take as much time as it wants, then we will not allow it to happen," the court noted.
Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter India, submitted that an interim grievance officer was appointed, but he had withdrawn his candidature on June 21. The bench responded that after June 21, and till July 6, the least it could have done was appoint another person.
"How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long it wants in our country, I will not allow that," said the bench.
Poovayya sought time to seek instructions on the new appointment, which was allowed by the court, and it passed over the matter. Later, Poovayya submitted that he needs more time to obtain detailed instructions from San Francisco-based Twitter.
