Intermediary Grievance Redressal under IT Rules

The Information Technology Rules, 2021 require intermediaries to provide users with an accessible mechanism for complaining about unlawful content, platform decisions and other rule violations. They prescribe a Grievance Officer, time-bound processing and additional accountability duties for a significant social media intermediary.

Basic grievance mechanism

• Every intermediary must prominently publish the Grievance Officer's name, contact details and the procedure through which users may submit complaints.
• The Grievance Officer must acknowledge a complaint within 24 hours and ordinarily resolve it within 15 days of receipt.
• Specified complaints seeking removal of information under Rule 3(1)(b) must be handled expeditiously and resolved within 72 hours.
• The intermediary must receive and acknowledge orders, notices and directions issued by courts or competent government authorities.

Expedited protection against intimate content

A complaint by an affected individual, or by a person acting on that individual's behalf, receives special protection where content prima facie depicts private areas, nudity, sexual conduct or impersonation, including artificially morphed images.

• The intermediary must take reasonable and practicable measures to remove or disable access to such content within 24 hours of receiving the complaint.
• It must provide a complaint mechanism that enables identification of the specific communication link or electronic location concerned.

Additional duties and appeal

A significant social media intermediary must appoint a Resident Grievance Officer in India, who performs the grievance functions prescribed by the Rules.

• It must publish a monthly compliance report stating the complaints received, action taken and specified information regarding content removed or disabled.
• When it removes content on its own initiative, it must generally notify the user, explain the grounds and provide a reasonable opportunity to dispute the action and seek reinstatement.
• A person dissatisfied with the Grievance Officer's decision, or receiving no decision within the prescribed period, may appeal to a Grievance Appellate Committee within 30 days.
• Failure to observe the Rules can result in loss of the conditional safe-harbour protection available under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

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