DW | India tightens GRIP on social media, 29 Oct G7 ALERT

The Indian government will create a three-person grievance redressal committee to veto moderation decisions made by social media platforms, according to legal changes adopted on Friday. The panel, which will be set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), will effectively have the final say on social media content.
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This is the latest move in the long-running push by the government to gain control over social media firms such as Meta and Twitter, as Indian authorities continue to clash with big tech companies.

The IT Rules, which came into effect in 2021, requires social media platforms with more than 5 million users to locate the source of a post if required by local authorities -- a tool that activists fear can lead to surveillance. The government is currently fighting a case in the Delhi High Court where [META PLATFORMS] WhatsApp had filed a lawsuit to block this ["]traceability["] clause.

No "cybersecurity", "criticial infrastructure," "hate speech," UKRAINE, or "monetization" grievances?

Meanwhile, the government ordered takedowns of several Twitter, [META PLATFORMS] Facebook[,] and [ALPHABET] YouTube accounts since 2021, citing a threat to national security and sovereignty. In July 2022, microblogging website Twitter filed a case against the government in a regional high court regarding the same issue. It alleged that the government had abused its power by ordering it to ARBITRARILY remove several tweets from the platform....

STATEMENT: @GoI_MeitY has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022. The notified Amendment Rules cause injury to the digital rights of every Indian social media user. (1/7)https://t.co/W0axL9qjHI

— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) October 28, 2022

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