Govt Announces New Rules To Curb Misuse Of Social Media

The Centre on Thursday announced new rules to curb misuse of social media platforms, as it asked firms to appoint a grievance officer, disclose the first originator of the mischievous information and remove, within 24 hours, content depicting nudity or morphed pictures of women.

Concerns have been raised about rampant abuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news and the government is bringing in a "soft touch" regulation, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while announcing the new guidelines.

According to the new rules, social media intermediaries have to appoint grievance officer, who shall register complaints in 24 hours. The grievance redressal official must be resident in India, and monthly compliance reports will have to be filed by social media platforms.

Social media platforms on being asked by court or government will be required to disclose the first originator of the mischievous information.