No immunity if platforms fail to remove child sex content? | India News

NEW DELHI: The government is reviewing the continuation of immunity for social media giants under the IT Act if they fail to take down content that causes gross user harm, including cases related to peddling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), misinformation and religious incitements, and algorithm mismanagement.
Besides, the government plans to invoke provisions of the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines that would make the likes of Facebook, X (earlier Twitter), Instagram, YouTube and Google criminally liable for punishment under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, minister of state for IT and electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar told TOI on Wednesday.

The government is particularly peeved at some of the platforms for refusing to comply with official notices on content related to child abuse, and taking refuge behind the “safe harbour” protection guaranteed under section 79 of the law over transmission of third-party content.

Chandrasekhar said the ministry has taken a “serious view” of repeated violations by platforms such as YouTube (owned by Google), X, and

Telegram, especially as they have “responded inadequately” to notices over CSAM.
When invoked, rule 7 of the IT Intermediary Guidelines of 2021 will take away the immunity, especially for platforms that fail to take action against objectionable content.
The move comes at a time when several US states are suing Meta platforms and its Instagram unit for “fuelling a youth mental health crisis” by making kids addicted.