For Twitter, Facebook Users' Complaints, New Panels In 3 Months

The panels will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.

Social media users will soon be able to approach 'Grievance Appellate Committees' when they disagree with content moderation or takedowns by platforms like Twitter and Facebook, the government said on Friday, tweaking its contentious new IT rules.

The change paves the way for setting up of the panels, which will settle issues that users may have against the way social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.

The committees will be set up within three months, according to a gazette notification on Friday. The move is likely to be seen as a reigning in of big tech firms, which have come under increasing scrutiny in India since a clash between Twitter and the country's ruling BJP last year.

"The central government shall, by notification, establish one or more grievance appellate committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022," the notification said.