It seems Twitter India has lots its intermediary status in India granted under Section 79 of the IT Act over non-compliance with the new IT rules for the social media companies.
“Twitter has lost its intermediary status in India the moment they didn’t comply with new IT rules. No order will be issued to declare them non-compliant,” the sources said as per news agency ANI.
If this is true, the company will be treated as a publisher and not as a social media platform. So, it will be liable for punishment under Indian laws for content posted by users. Twitter India’s managing director and other top executives will also face police questioning and criminal liability under IPC.
As per a government source, only Twitter is the mainstream social media platform that has not followed the new IT rules. Other social media platforms such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram remain protected.
The Indian government has given a long time to all social media companies for complying with the new IT rules. Other social media platforms did so, but Twitter couldn’t. The Indian government gave Twitter the last chance on June 5.
This development came hours after Ghaziabad Police named Twitter India in an FIR. Police said that the video was false and Twitter did nothing to prevent the video from getting viral.
