As the saga around the new IT rules continues, the appointments of grievance officers by social media platforms has created significant buzz.
The Indian government recently brought into effect new rules aimed at preventing social media abuse and misuse of digital platforms. A highlight of the new IT rules for intermediaries is a robust grievance redressal mechanism.
Apart from a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer, the rules mandate all significant social media intermediaries (over 50 lakh users) to appoint a resident grievance officer. This executive is responsible to acknowledge and resolve grievances within a stipulated time-period.
Role of grievance officers at social media intermediaries, as per new IT Rules
The name and contact details of the grievance officer need to be prominently published on the social media platform’s website. A mechanism by which a user may file a complaint is also required to be mentioned.
This executive will be required to acknowledge all complaints within 24 hours and resolve the issues within 15 days from the date when the complaint was received. Furthermore, the grievance officer will be required to receive and acknowledge any order, notice or direction issued by the Appropriate Government, any competent authority or a court of competent jurisdiction.
The grievance officer should be based in India and an employee of the company. The officer should be a member of a self-regulating body to be formed by intermediaries. This body will oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence to the Code of Ethics by the publisher.
The grievance officer will be the point of contact to receive any grievance relating to Code of Ethics.
Confirmed and unconfirmed appointments
Facebook has appointed Spoorthi Priya as its grievance officer and listed the FBOGIndia@fb.com as the email id to reach out to in case of grievance. Instagram lists the same name and contact details as Facebook.
WhatsApp has appointed Paresh B Lal as its grievance officer with the email id grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com. LinkedIn lists Tanya Mampilly as its grievance officer for India.
Twitter’s first appointment as Interim Resident Grievance Officer was Dharmendra Chatur but he quit from the post within weeks. Currently, the website displays Twitter’s global legal policy director Jeremy Kessel as its grievance officer for India. But with the rules stipulating the executive to be a resident in India, the company has stated that it will announce a new name for the Interim Resident Grievance Officer post soon.
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 "DNA Explainer: New IT rules for social media platforms - Who is a grievance officer?")
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