Facebook, Twitter may be banned in India

NEW DELHI: Social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may face a ban in India if they do not comply with the new Intermediary Guidelines.

According to foreign media, the deadline to accept the guidelines set by the Indian government were to end on May 25 but so far none of the platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter has complied with the new regulations. The Indian version of Twitter, Koo, is the only social media app that has complied with the new guidelines ahead of the May 25 deadline. In February 2021, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) had given a three-month time to the social platforms to comply with the new IT rules.

It is a crucial moment for the social media companies because if they do not comply with the new rules by May 25, they were to lose their status and protections as intermediaries and criminal action can be taken against them as per the laws of India, a government official said in a statement.