The Grievance Appellate Committee consists of a chairperson and two whole-time members to whom a person can appeal a decision made by a Grievance Officer. According to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics) Rules, 2021, created under the Information Technology Act,2000, intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, must observe due diligence while discharging their duties. It includes a requirement that the intermediary makes reasonable efforts to prevent its users from displaying, hosting, uploading, transmitting, publishing, updating, storing, or sharing certain information. The intermediaries need to have Grievance Officers to whom the users or victims can complain about the violation of rules.
The Grievance Appellate Committee shall adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism where the entire appeal process can be conducted digitally. It will be a virtual digital platform operating only digitally and online. The committee needs to address the appeals of the users within 30 days. Multiple such committees can be established by the Government.
Development of Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs):
Three Appellate Grievance Committees established by the Government are based on the recent developments made on the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Apart from the courts, the IT Rules 2021 create avenues for grievance redressal. It ensures that the Constitutional rights of Indian citizens are not contravened by any Big-tech Platforms, which is done by ensuring new accountability standards.
The Grievance Appellate Committee critically ensures that the Internet in India is Safe & Trusted, Open, and Accountable. The need to have a GAC came due to many grievances being left unaddressed or unsatisfactorily addressed by Internet Intermediaries. The committee is expected to create an area of responsiveness amongst Intermediaries and internet platforms towards their consumers.
The need for the committee came with multiple stand-offs over content moderation, and takedown happened between the social media platforms and governments. Various Twitter accounts of actors, news websites, bloggers, and political workers were reportedly blocked following government orders. With the expansion of internet access in India, new issues related to government policies keep emerging.
Information Technology Rules, 2021:
The IT Rules 2021 is subordinate or secondary legislation suppressing India’s Intermediary Guidelines Rules 2011. The IT rules combine the OTT Regulation and Code of Ethics for Digital Media and the draft Intermediaries Rules, 2018. The rules commenced on February 25, 2021, and were introduced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The Central Government, along with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, have coordinated the development of the rules.
