Jayant Apte's Podcast Jayant Apte

Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram may face a ban in India if they fail to comply with the new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms. The three-month deadline given by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) to accept these guidelines ends today i.e. May 25 but none of the giants have so far accepted the new regulations. The rules will be effective from tomorrow despite these companies seeking a total six-month delay in their implementation.  Homegrown social media platform Koo, which is the Indian version of Twitter, is the only platform that has so far accepted the Centre's intermediary guidelines.  If any of these social media platforms fail to accept these guidelines, they risk losing status as social media platforms and protections as intermediaries. The government can also take action against them as per the law of the land for not following the rules, a government official said.  The new rules were announced in February which requires large social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person, and resident grievance officer.