A photo taken on Oct 21, 2020 shows the logo of the the American online social media and social networking service, Facebook and Twitter on a computer screen in Lille. (DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

An Indian parliamentary panel has recommended setting up a regulator to oversee Twitter and Facebook as they should be seen as publishers, according to people with knowledge with the matter, effectively reducing the legal protection from user content posted on their social media platforms.  

The high-level committee made those recommendations as it reviewed the personal data protection bill introduced in 2019 that seeks to protect users’ privacy and enforce strict controls on how Western companies such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Amazon.com Inc collect, process and store data.

The panel is asking for tighter rules because current laws treating these social media platforms as intermediaries hasn’t done enough in terms of regulation. Also, the current provisions in the personal data protection bill is too broad, said the two people who are not authorized to speak to the media.

The people said a mechanism may be devised for social media platforms to be held accountable for content also coming from unverified accounts.

In India, these companies have so far enjoyed “safe harbor” status and can’t be held liable for user-generated content on their platform so long as they follow the Intermediary Guidelines issued earlier this year

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If these recommendations are included in the revised bill and get passed in parliament, it could have a far-reaching impact on the operations of public and private companies in the largest social media market globally.

Such a move echoes similar sentiments beyond India. Lawmakers from Washington to Brussels have contemplated action to hold social media companies like Facebook and Google accountable for the enormous content generated daily on their platforms, a view that gained momentum during the pandemic.

In India, these companies have so far enjoyed “safe harbor” status and can’t be held liable for user-generated content on their platform so long as they follow the Intermediary Guidelines issued earlier this year. This has included setting up offices in India, appointing compliance officials and adhering to the government’s requests to take down certain types of content that it deems as harmful.

P. P. Chaudhary, a lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who heads the panel, said the report’s recommendations will be presented in parliament when it comes into session from Nov 29. He declined to discuss the contents of the report.

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Data protection

India’s headlong rush to adopt smartphones has led to an explosion of personal and sensitive information. However, laws to protect users’ privacy haven’t moved at the same pace, sparking concerns among activists and civic groups over potential abuses. 

It took two years for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to come up with data protection legislation after the Supreme Court ruled that privacy is a fundamental individual right. The parliamentary panel missed many deadlines to complete its report as lawmakers were divided on some of the bill’s provisions. On Monday, the panel had finalized the report. 

The lawmakers in the panel are in favor of expanding the bill’s coverage to non personal data, the people said. It also recommended that approximately 24 months should be given to implement the provisions of the act so that data-related companies can make the necessary changes to their policies, infrastructure and processes.

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The panel also kept the provision that allows the government to give exemptions to its agencies from parts of the legislation, although some lawmakers have expressed reservations to this.