Delhi HC closes proceedings in a PIL for details of designated officers of social media intermediaries

New Delhi [India], February 20 : The Delhi High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought direction from the Union of India and others to formally notify the details of the Designated Officers of the Intermediaries, i.e., Google, X (earlier Twitter) and Facebook.
The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in an order passed on February 13, 2024, stated that with the appointment of the Grievance Officer by the Intermediary under Rule 3 (2) and the setting up of the Grievance Appellate Committee under Rule 3A of the Rules of 2021, the members of the general public have access to a robust grievance redressal mechanism in case of circulation of any news or posts, which are liable to be regulated under Rule 3 (1) (b) of the Rules of 2021.
The Court further said, the grievance raised by the Petitioner in this PIL stands resolved and the Petitioner has not disputed the existence and effectiveness of the said mechanism.
The list of the Grievance Officer of the Intermediary is required to be published in the public domain under Rule 3 (2) of the Rules of 2021. Accordingly, in view of the notification of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the relief sought in the present petition does not survive for consideration, said the Court.
The petitioner, KN Govindacharya, through lawyers Virag Gupta, Vishal Arun Mishra, Harshita Nigam and Umang Mangal, Advocates, stated that formal notification of the details of the designated officer by the intermediaries, such as social media intermediaries, under Rule 13 of the Rules of 2009.
Advocate Virag Gupta submitted that under the scheme of the Rules of 2009, the officer designated by the Intermediary is required to co-ordinate with the Designated Officer of the Central Government notified under Rule 3 of the said Rules of 2009.
Advocate Gupta further submitted that disclosure of the details of the officer(s) of the Intermediaries will significantly assist the Police and security agencies in resolving the rising number of cyber-crimes against minors as well as issues related to National Security.
While deciding the matter, the bench noted that the prayer of the Petitioner that the details of the officer appointed by an Intermediary in compliance with Rule 13 of Rules of 2009 should be made available in public domain, is without any basis. The officer under said Rule 13 is to be appointed by Intermediary solely to interact and coordinate with the Designated Officer appointed by the Central Government under Rule 3 of Rules of 2009.
Under the Rules of 2009, the details of the Nodal Officer [as defined under Rule 2(f)] are required to be published on the website of each organisation. The Nodal Officer under Rule 6 of said Rules is authorized to
receive complaint from the members of the public with a request for blocking of access of any information generated, transmitted, received or hosted in any computer resource, noted the court.
Further, we are of the considered opinion that with the notification and implementation of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the grievance raised by the petitioner in this PIL stands resolved, the bench said.
With the appointment of the Grievance Officer by the Intermediary under Rule 3 (2) and the setting up of the Grievance Appellate Committee under Rule 3A of the Rules of 2021, the members of the general public have access to a robust grievance redressal mechanism in case of circulation of any news or posts, which are liable to regulated under Rule 3 (1) (b) of the Rules of 2021, added the court.