In the midst of a legal battle with the government, Twitter has named Global Legal Policy Director Jeremy Kessel as the grievance officer for India, in accordance with the Centre’s new rules for social networking websites.
However, under the new rules, the role must be filled by an Indian resident.
This comes just a day after the social media company’s interim grievance redressal officer in India, who was appointed less than a month ago, resigned amid the company’s bitter feud with the government.
On May 31, Twitter informed the Delhi High Court that it was appointing Dharmendra Chatur, a partner at a law firm that represented Twitter, as interim officer for the position. However, the centre has stated that it will not accept the appointment of outsiders for statutory positions.
On Sunday, Mr Chatur resigned. The new rules, known as the Intermediary Guidelines, aim to regulate content on social media websites with more than 50 lakh users, such as Facebook and Twitter, while also holding them more accountable for user-generated content. The guidelines call for the appointment of compliance executives based in India, among other things.
Critics have raised concerns that Twitter may no longer enjoy protection against user-generated content.
Last week, the Uttar Pradesh Police summoned Twitter India CEO Manish Maheshwari, days after a FIR was filed against the social media giant over posts by journalists and politicians linked to the assault of a Muslim man near Delhi.
The Karnataka High Court granted Mr Maheshwari temporary protection from arrest. ‘If police wish to investigate or question, they may do so through virtual mode,’ said a single-judge bench led by Justice G Narender.
This is the first case which was brought against the social media behemoth since the new rules came into effect.
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