Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) criticised the Centre’s proposal to create a Grievance Appellate Committee as part of the IT Rules, 2021 amendments.
The industry association stated in its comments on the amendments submitted to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) that the proposal to form the Grievance Appellate Committee is tantamount to the government not only taking over the role of judiciary but also interfering in the affairs of private companies. Members of the association include Apple, Amazon, Google, and LinkedIn. Earlier this year, several other organisations and legal experts expressed similar concerns about the draught amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, which were published in June of this year. Among the major concerns are the formation of the Grievance Appellate Committee, the timeline for appealing to the committee, and the imposition of the state’s fundamental rights on social media intermediaries.
