"Twitter In Breach Of Law Of The Land": Centre Tells Delhi High Court

Twitter's failure to comply with IT Rules leads to a loss of immunity as an "intermediary", the Centre has said.

Microblogging site Twitter has failed to comply with IT Rules, 2021, leading to a loss of immunity as an "intermediary", the government of India today told the Delhi High Court. The social media giant's failure to appoint key officers, even after three months granted to comply with the new IT rules, amounts to a breach of the law of the land, it said. A loss of its intermediary status, which provides its immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by it, makes it liable for criminal action in case of complaints. The Delhi High Court was hearing a case filed by a Twitter user alleging that his complaint against Tweets was not acted upon promptly by the social media giant. "IT Rules, 2021, are the law of the land and Respondent No. 2 (Twitter) is mandatorily required to comply with the same. Any non-compliance amounts to a breach of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021, thereby, leading to Twitter losing its immunity conferred under section 79(1) of the IT Act, 2000," the Centre said.