What is voluntary verification mechanism for users? All about Centre's new rules on regulating social media content

According to the new rules for social media and OTT platforms, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that users who wish to verify their accounts voluntarily shall be provided with an appropriate mechanism to verify their accounts and provided with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification.

The voluntary mechanism is done just as the regular KYC verification is done for using services online. The voluntary verification mechanism would give users more confidence in the validity of information on the verified accounts.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) on Thursday, announced the draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for social media platforms, OTT players and digital media.

The government's new rules to regulate digital content requires social media giants to disclose 'first originator' of a post that is found objectionable or offensive.

As per the recommendations, social media companies have to give out the originator of a message or tweet as the case may be. This means for Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp, it means that they will be forced to break end-to-end encryption in India in order to comply with the new rules.