New IT rules will make sure no unlawful content is posted online: Minister

New Delhi, Oct 29: On the new IT rules that came into effect on Friday, the government has said that it is a mission to have a safe and trusted internet for all its citizens and these amendments would ensure that no unlawful content is posted online.

Addressing media persons, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "The government wants to work on a partnership model with all big and small foreign and Indian companies on the internet with the objective of a safe and trusted internet for all its citizens."

"Amendments made to IT rules which came into effect yesterday. Our mission is to make the internet open, safe, and trusted. As per amended rules, the intermediary has to ensure that no unlawful content is posted online. The Internet can't be a party to deliberate misinformation," he said.

The government tweaked IT rules to pave way for the setting up of grievance appellate panels, which will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.

Incidentally, the move comes at a time when Elon Musk took over the control of popular social media app Twitter.

The IT rules changes have been in the works for months, though, ever since users red-flagged instances of digital platforms acting arbitrarily.

"The central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022," the notification said.

The latest move will give an opportunity for the users with a grievance appeal mechanism in the form of appellate committees that will look into complaints filed by individuals against decisions of grievance officers of social media platforms.