The three-month period to comply with the new IT rules was not mandatory, Twitter said.
An Interim Resident Grievance Officer will be appointed soon in India, microblogging site Twitter India told the Delhi High Court today. Till then, complaints are being addressed by a grievance officer, it said. Twitter was responding to a case was filed in High Court by a user alleging that his complaint against Tweets were not acted upon promptly by the social media giant.
"An Interim Resident Grievance officer was appointed as per the new IT Rules. However, even before steps could be taken to completely formalise the arrangement, the official withdrew his candidature on 21.6.2021," Twitter told the High court.
"We are in the final stages of appointing a replacement. In the meanwhile, the grievances of Indian users are being addressed by a Grievance Officer," it said in an affidavit filed by Micah L Rubbo, Senior Counsel and Twitter Inc's Director of Litigation.
Asking for the petition against it to be dismissed on grounds that the petitioner did not have locus standi, the microblogging website submitted details of the Interim Resident Grievance Officer.
"The petition is not maintainable since Twitter is a corporation registered in United States of America," it told the High Court.
Though the government notification was issued on February 26, the three-month period to comply with the new IT rules was not mandatory but directory, it contended.
"The notification (new IT Rules) stated to have been made on 25.2.2021 but the same was published in the Gazette only on February 6, 2021. In any event, it is submitted that the three-month time period as directory and not mandatory and is further subject to just exceptions, including COVID-19," Twitter's affidavit said.
"It is submitted that the petitioner's grievance, that on May 25 the requirements were to be complied, is incorrect and for this reason alone the writ petition deserves dismissal," it said.
Twitter recently appointed Global Legal Policy Director Jeremy Kessel as grievance officer for India to follow the new IT rules.
Significant social media intermediaries are required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal officer, and a grievance officer -- all whom are required to be residents of India, according to the IT rules. Non-compliance would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.
These firms also must publish monthly reports with details of complaints received and action taken. Taking action could include removing a piece of content or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today praised Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter's India-based competitor Koo for removal of "offensive posts".
His comments came as troubles grew for Twitter. Four cases have been filed against the US company so far -- two in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi -- over user-generated content after the new rules came into effect.
Critics have raised concerns that Twitter may no longer enjoy protection against user-generated content.