The Centre on Thursday released social media and intermediary guidelines, which will be applicable to firms like Facebook, Google, Whatsapp, Twitter and others. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while announcing the guidelines said he was "laying down the ground rules very clearly" and clarified that social media is welcome to do business in India.

"They have done exceedingly well, they have got good business, they have got a good number of users and they have also empowered ordinary Indians. We praise that," the Electronics & Information Technology Minister said, listing the number of users each of the platforms have in India - each amounting to a massive number.

• WhatsApp users: 53 Crore
• YouTube users: 44.8 Crore
• Facebook users: 41 Crore
• Instagram users: 21 Crore
• Twitter users: 1.75 Crore

"The government welcomes criticism and right to dissent. Let me make it very clear. Social media has been used to ask questions too, but it is very important that the users of social media must be given the forum to raise their grievance and resolution against the use, misuse and abuse of social media," he said. "We are empowering the ordinary users of social media in this process," he added.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said that concerns have been raised over the years about the rampant abuse of social media. He said the Ministry had widespread consultations and a draft was prepared in December 2018. "The law we have made for significant social media will be enforced within three months so that they can improve their mechanism and the rest will come into effect since the day the rules are notified," he said. 

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Salient features of the social media guidelines announced by Ravi Shankar Prasad:

• There will be 2 categories depending on usership, numbers for which the government will prescribe -- One is intermediary which can be social media intermediary and the second will be a significant social media intermediary. There are additional obligations on social media intermediaries. 

• 'We shall notify the users' number for a significant social media intermediary very soon. They will have to have a grievance redressal mechanism, you will also have to name a grievance officer who shall register the grievance within 24 hours and disposal in 15 days.'

• 'If there are complaints against the dignity of users, particularly women that exposes the private parts of individuals or nudity or sexual act or impersonation etc - you'll be required to remove that within 24 hours after a complaint made. This is designed to respect the dignity of women.

• Significant social media will have to do three things: 1. A chief compliance officer- resident in India responsible for ensuring compliance of Acts. 2. A nodal contact person-resident in India for coordination with law enforcement agencies, 3. A resident grievance officer for grievance redressal. 

• Social media platforms upon being asked either by a court order or a government authority will be required to disclose the first originator of mischievous tweet or message as the case may be.

• This should be only in relation to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, relations with foreign states, or rape, sexually explicit content etc.

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PIB publishes full guidelines for social media:

• Due Diligence To Be Followed By Intermediaries: The Rules prescribe due diligence that must be followed by intermediaries, including social media intermediaries. In case, due diligence is not followed by the intermediary, safe harbour provisions will not apply to them.
• Grievance Redressal Mechanism: The Rules seek to empower the users by mandating the intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for receiving resolving complaints from the users or victims. Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with such complaints andshare the name and contact details of such officer. Grievance Officer shall acknowledge the complaint within twenty four hours and resolve it within fifteen days from its receipt.
• Ensuring Online Safety and Dignity of Users, Specially Women Users: Intermediaries shall remove or disable access withing 24 hours of receipt of complaints of contents that exposes the private areas of individuals, show such individuals in full or partial nudity or in sexual act or is in the nature of impersonation including morphed images etc. Such a complaint can be filed either by the individual or by any other person on his/her behalf.
• Two Categories of Social Media Intermediaries: To encourage innovations and enable growth of new social media intermediaries without subjecting smaller platforms to significant compliance requirement, the Rules make a distinction between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. This distinction is based on the number of users on the social media platform. Government is empowered to notify the threshold of user base that will distinguish between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. The Rules require the significant social media intermediaries to follow certain additional due diligence.
• Additional Due Diligence to Be Followed by Significant Social Media Intermediary:
• Appoint a Chief Compliance Officer who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and Rules. Such a person should be a resident in India.
• Appoint a Nodal Contact Person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies. Such a person shall be a resident in India.
• Appoint a Resident Grievance Officer who shall perform the functions mentioned under Grievance Redressal Mechanism. Such a person shall be a resident in India.
• Publish a monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken on the complaints as well as details of contents removed proactively by the significant social media intermediary.
• Significant social media intermediaries providing services primarily in the nature of messaging shall enable identification of the first originator of the information that is required only for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of an offence related to sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order or of incitement to an offence relating to the above or in relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material punishable with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years. Intermediary shall not be required to disclose the contents of any message or any other information to the first originator.
• Significant social media intermediary shall have a physical contact address in India published on its website or mobile app or both.
• Voluntary User Verification Mechanism: Users who wish to verify their accounts voluntarily shall be provided an appropriate mechanism to verify their accounts and provided with demonstrable and visible mark of verification. 
• Giving Users An Opportunity to Be Heard: In cases where significant social media intermediaries removes or disables access to any information on their own accord, then a prior intimation for the same shall be communicated to the user who has shared that information with a notice explaining the grounds and reasons for such action. Users must be provided an adequate and reasonable opportunity to dispute the action taken by the intermediary. 
• Removal of Unlawful Information:An intermediary upon receiving actual knowledge in the form of an order by a court or being notified by the Appropriate Govt. or its agencies through authorized officer should not host or publish any information which is prohibited under any law in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign countries etc.
• The Rules will come in effect from the date of their publication in the gazette, except for the additional due diligence for significant social media intermediaries, which shall come in effect 3 months after publication of these Rules.