Will provide details of compliance officer in a week: Twitter tells government

The government had sent out “one last notice” to Twitter seeking immediate compliance with the new IT rules.

Twitter has said that it intends to comply with India's IT rules but needs more time

(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)

Following the government’s “one last notice” to comply with the new IT Rules, Twitter Inc has said it is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines, and will provide the details of its Chief Compliance Officer within a week.

“We understand the importance of these regulations and have endeavored in good faith to comply with the Guidelines, including with respect to hiring personnel in India,” the U.S.-headquartered firm has said in its reply.

While most significant social media intermediaries, platforms with more than 50 lakh users, have submitted details of their Chief Compliance Officer — a key requirement under the new law, Twitter is yet to do so. Last week, the Indian government had sent out “one last notice” to Twitter Inc seeking immediate compliance with the new IT rules and warned that failure to do so will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

“...We are in advanced stages of finalising the appointment to the role of Chief Compliance Officer and we plan to provide additional details to you in the next several days, and at the latest within a week,” Twitter has said in the letter.

The microblogging platform has reiterated that it is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines and remains committed to serving the people of India by providing a platform to serve the public conversation, especially during critical moments and emergency situations such as those we've seen globally in recent months.

“The Guidelines were notified on 25th February, 2021, and the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult for us as a practical matter to make certain arrangements necessary to comply with the Guidelines within the stipulated time-frame,” it said.

 

Twitter noted that similar to other significant social media intermediaries operating in India, it has appointed a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer on a contractual basis while it recruits to fill the positions on a permanent basis.