After Delhi HC snub, Twitter says 'striving' to comply with new IT rules

The statement came hours after Delhi High Court said that Twitter will have to ensure compliance with the new IT rules.

Social media giant Twitter, on Monday, said it strives to comply with applicable laws in India. “We continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the Indian law,” the company spokesperson said. 
 

The statement came hours after Delhi High Court, hearing a petition alleging that Twitter was not compliant with India’s new rules for digital media intermediaries, said that the microblogging platform will have to comply with the new rules if they haven't been stayed. The court issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter seeking their stand on the petition. 
 

Lawyer Amit Acharya, in his plea in the Delhi HC, claimed that Twitter hadn’t appointed a resident grievance officer, as it is required to under India’s new Information Technology (IT) rules. 
 

Acharya said that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets.
 

During the hearing, central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the court that Twitter has not complied with the rules.
 

The petition has sought a direction to Twitter to appoint a resident grievance officer without further delay. It has also sought a direction to the Centre to ensure that the IT rules are complied with.
 

Twitter had recently said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new IT rules, saying they "inhibit free and public conversation".
 

Under the new digital rules, social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to identify within 36 hours the originator of a flagged message and conduct additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
 

The IT rules also require social media platforms to enable the identification of the first originator of any piece of information on their portals which the government deems could jeopardise the sovereignty, integrity or national security of India, or contains sexually explicit content.