Will not let Twitter take as long it wants in our country: Delhi High Court in plea to direct social media giant to comply with IT Rules, 2021

The Delhi High Court today granted time to Twitter India to disclose when it would appoint a Resident Grievance Officer under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021). [Amit Acharya v. Union of India & Ors]..The Bench of Justice Rekha Palli was hearing a plea before the Delhi High Court by one Amit Acharya, who sought action against Twitter users for their tweets on a video from Ghaziabad showing a Muslim man being assaulted. The petition had sought a direction to Twitter to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer as required under Rule 4 of the IT Rules, 2021..Justice Palli took objection to the fact that despite assurances on the last date of hearing, a Grievance Officer was not appointed..Appearing for Twitter India today, Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya conceded that the social media giant was presently not in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 as it did not have a Resident Grievance Officer. He stated that an interim Grievance Officer was appointed, but was removed on June 21..The Court responded,"After 21 June, till July 6, the least you could have done was appoint another person. How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long it wants in our country, I will not allow that.".Poovayya then sought time to seek instructions on when the new appointment would be made. The Court allowed him to do so and passed over the matter..The Senior Counsel returned to seek more time to obtain detailed instructions from San Francisco-based Twitter. The Court granted two days for the same. "Come up with a clear response, otherwise you will be in trouble," the Court said, as it sought information on Twitter's compliance with other provisions of the IT Rules, 2021 by the next date of hearing..The matter will be heard next on July 8..In its affidavit filed in the matter, the Central government had stated that Twitter was not in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 given the fact that the person appointed to deal with grievances that arise in India is residing in the United States of America..The affidavit filed through the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) went on to note how Twitter's interim Resident Grievance Officer and interim Nodal Contact Person resigned from their positions, after which grievances raised in India were being dealt with by a person in the US. Twitter had recently appointed California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new Grievance Officer for India after interim officer Dharmendra Chatur stepped down..Twitter not complying with IT Rules 2021, grievances from India being handled by person in US: Central govt tells Delhi High Court.As per the affidavit, Twitter is in non-compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 for the following reasons:a. Chief Compliance Officer has not been appointed;b. The position of the Resident Grievance Officer is vacant;c. The position of Nodal Contact Person (even on an interim basis) is vacant;d. The physical contact address, which was shown to be there on 29th May, 2021 is once not again available on Twitter’s website..The affidavit concluded by stating that Twitter will not be protected under the safe harbour protections under the Information Technology Act if it continues to be in non-compliance with the IT Rules, 2021.