No Ban On Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram In India From Today

On Tuesday, the social media platforms were hitting the headlines. The discussions that platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram could be banned were rife. It was said that these platforms would face bans in India if they fail to meet the new intermediary guidelines issued by the government in February. Also, these platforms were given three months of time to ensure their compliance with the government's rules that will go into effect from today, May 26.

There were speculations that these social media platforms could be banned due to non-compliance with these rules. This is expected to bring about serious implications on these platforms. However, there is still confusion among users if these platforms will be blocked in India.

No Ban On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp!

Amidst this confusion, here is some clarity regarding the social media platforms. Well, you need to take these reports with a grain of salt for now as there is no official confirmation either from the platforms or the government of India. Today, all these platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram are working fine in the country.

Given that the new IT rules and guidelines come into effect from today, May 26, it is important for the social media platforms should comply with the new rules and regulations. But to put an end to these speculations and give you more clarity, here we detail some points.

As per the IT rules, the big tech companies mentioned above are called "significant social media" by the government. These companies should have a chief compliance officer in India who can respond to the government's needs and demands quickly as and when required. So, these social media platforms have to hire a nodal officer to coordinate with law enforcement agencies. Also, they need to hire a grievance redressal officer to help users with their grievances.

Furthermore, the government has asked social media companies including WhatsApp to make sure they can trace a message to the original recipient. To put it in simple words, they should break the end-to-end encryption on messages, which is highly challenging for instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp. Already, WhatsApp has already been under tremendous pressure due to the new privacy policy that came into effect on May 15.

Will Social Media Platforms Be Banned!

When companies comply with the new IT rules, they will function sans any interference by the government. But that may not be the case with those who do not comply with the new rules. Does it mean that those that do not follow the guidelines will be banned? Well, nothing has been officially confirmed as yet. These platforms can continue to work as usual until the government takes some against them.

If any of these platforms or streaming services lose the intermediary protection, then these can be dragged to court at any given them and prosecuted as per the applicable laws. So, relax as you can still continue to use the social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and others in India.