Google's team in India is rigorously engaged to comply with the new IT rules that came into effect on Wednesday, said CEO Sundar Pichai. "You know we comply with local laws and we will approach it with the same framework," Pichai said.
He said the company has a policy to engage and explain the significance of "information and promotion of free flow of information", but added that Google also respects legislative processes in democratic nations.
He also noted that the issue of regulation of technology companies by countries globally is evolving. "We fully expect governments, rightfully, to both scrutinize and adopt regulatory frameworks, whether it's Europe copyright directive or India with information regulation," he said.
The new IT rules for social media companies, which came into effect from Wednesday, are aimed at making digital platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and Google—which have seen a phenomenal surge in usage over the past few years in India—more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platform.
The new rules, which were announced on February 25, require large social media players to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
"Significant social media intermediaries"—defined as those with over 50 lakh registered users—were given three months' time to comply with the additional requirements. Non-compliance with rules, will result in these social media companies losing their intermediary status that provides them exemptions and certain immunity from liabilities for any third-party information and data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for action.
Google has previously stated that it has consistently invested in significant product changes, resources, and personnel to ensure that it is combating illegal content in an effective and fair way, and complies with local laws in the jurisdictions it operates in.
The new rules also require these platforms to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours, and take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.
The new guidelines mandate setting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country, and significant social media companies will have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken, as well as details of contents removed proactively.
They will also be required to have a physical contact address in India published on its website or mobile app, or both.
Interestingly, WhatsApp has moved Delhi High Court challenging the new digital rules on grounds that the requirement for the company to provide access to encrypted messages will break privacy protections.
(With PTI inputs)
