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Twitter on Friday told the Delhi High Court that as of August 4, it has appointed Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) and Resident Grievance Officer (RGO), as required by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Senior advocate Sajan Poovaya appearing for Twitter said the officers have been appointed on a permanent capacity.
Justice Rekha Palli checked with Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma if IT Rules have indeed been complied with. “Seemingly so your lordship,” responded the ASG, adding, “But we have to confirm. We will take instructions.” The matter was posted for August 10.
Twitter has made the appointments after getting hauled up by the Court which had warned the company against “serious non-compliance” with the new IT Rules. Justice Rekha Palli had responded to Twitter’s affidavit in the last hearing which said that it had appointed “contingent workers” through a third-party contractor. “What is this kind of compliance? How can you have a contingent worker through a third-party contractor? Your affidavit says ‘we will endeavour to appoint…’ Are you serious? Your company is making so much money like the Centre is saying and you’re saying we will make an endeavour to comply with the laws?” Justice Palli had said.
The ASG, who had, in an earlier hearing, underlined that Twitter is no longer eligible for safe harbour immunity against prosecution, asserted that the micro-blogging site is showing “repeated non-compliance by nuanced terminologies” and playing for time. “Twitter has generated more than $7 million of revenue and yet, they are floundering to appoint officers as per the requirement of the law,” said Sharma..
In its submission to the Court’s inquiry in the last hearing about what Twitter has done thus far to comply with the new IT Rules, the company’s Deputy General Counsel and Vice President (Legal) Jim Baker told the Court that it has, as on July 6, appointed a CCO and an RGO as contingent workers via a third party contractor and has posted a job announcement for a CCO, RGO as well as a Nodal Contact Person as direct employees. Twitter said it is in the process of setting up a liaison office which will be its permanent physical contact address in India.
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