Why in news?
The new rules in India for social media platforms and digital news outlets, called the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, came into effect.
What are the key provisions in the Guidelines?
- The guidelines had asked all social media platforms to set up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism.
- This includes appointing a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer (CCO) and a nodal contact person.
- The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology had also asked these platforms to submit monthly reports.
- It should have details on complaints received from users and action taken.
- A third requirement is for instant messaging apps to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.
- Failure to comply with any one of these requirements would take away the indemnity provided to social media intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
What protection does Section 79 of the IT Act offer?







