What are significant social media?

According to Rule 4(1), a “significant social media intermediary”, i.e., a social media intermediary having more than 5 million registered users in India, within three months from the date of notification of the threshold thereof, has to establish a three-tier system for observing due diligence, comprising of a Chief …

What is the threshold for significant social media intermediary?

50 lakh
Social media companies with more than 50 lakh registered users will be considered ‘significant social media intermediaries’, as per the new norms under the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code of 2021, the Central government has clarified.

Is Instagram an intermediary?

Social media intermediaries will continue to function as they were, without any hiccups. Social media intermediaries such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have so far not appointed a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person as requires under the new rules announced in February.

Is Facebook an intermediary?

New Delhi: Social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Google and Twitter run the risk of losing their status as “intermediaries” and may become liable for criminal action if they do not comply with the revised regulations that come into effect on Wednesday, officials told ET.

Who is an intermediary under IT Act?

The term “intermediary” has been defined under the Information Technology Act, 2002[1] (“IT Act”) with respect to any particular electronic message and means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message.

What is online intermediary service?

An internet intermediary is an entity which provides services that enable people to use the internet, falling into two categories: (i) conduits, which are technical providers of internet access or transmission services; and (ii) hosts, which are providers of content services, such as online platforms (e.g. websites).

What is safe Harbour protection?

Safe harbour protection grants protection to intermediaries from being held responsible for third party content that is shared on their platform. In India, Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 gives an exemption from liability to intermediaries.

Is Twitter an intermediary?

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, instant messaging service like WhatsApp and search engine giant Google are called intermediaries, as per the definition provided under Section 2 (1)( w) of the Information Technology Act.

What are the new intermediary Guidelines 2021?

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Prohibit to host, store or publish any unlawful information, which is against any law for the time being in force in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Is social media an intermediary?

Social Media Intermediaries as per Rule 2(1)(w) is an intermediary which primarily or solely enables online interaction between two or more users and allows them to create, upload, share, disseminate, modify or access information using its services.

What is Cyber intermediary?

Cyber- intermediaries are defined as “organizations that operate in electronic markets to facilitate exchanges between producers and consumers by meeting the needs of both the producers and the consumers” (Sarker et al., 1998, p. 215).

What is an example of an intermediary?

For example, merchants are intermediaries that buy and resell products. There are four generally recognized broad groups of intermediaries: agents, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers.

What is the threshold of significant social media intermediaries in India?

The government has set the threshold of significant social media intermediaries at 50 lakh registered users. This will make up for all big global social media platforms in India as well as some Indian homegrown apps that had seen a substantial gain in user base after the ban on Chinese apps and some other dissension.

What are the government’s social media intermediaries rules?

Government is empowered to notify the threshold of user base that will distinguish between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. The Rules require the significant social media intermediaries to follow certain additional due diligence.

What is an intermediary under the IT Act?

The definition of an intermediary was expanded to include online payment sites, search engines, internet service providers, etc., [3] and exemption was granted to intermediaries from liability arising under “any law”, as opposed to the limited protection from offences only under the IT Act provided earlier.

Are intermediaries required to publish rules and regulation on their websites?

With the 2021 Rules having come into effect from 26-5-2021, intermediaries are, at one end of the spectrum of compliance, required to prominently publish rules and regulation on their website informing its users about the type of information which must not be stored or transmitted on the intermediary’s computer resource (prohibited information).