The rules also call for a three-tier regulation mechanism for over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, YouTube, etc, and require them to self-classify their content into five categories based on age suitability.

The Centre Thursday notified new guidelines for intermediaries in “soft touch oversight” rules, saying these were needed to hold social media and other companies accountable for “misuse and abuse”. These will require Big Tech platforms to set up stronger grievance redressal mechanisms and appoint executives to coordinate with law enforcement in India.

For social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc, the guidelines essentially remove the “safe harbor” provided to these companies — it limited their liability over content that users posted on their platforms — if the platforms do not comply with due diligence norms.

The rules also call for a three-tier regulation mechanism for over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, YouTube, etc, and require them to self-classify their content into five categories based on age suitability.

The rules also made a distinction between a significant social media intermediary and a regular social media intermediary. The government is yet to define the user size to determine who will constitute a significant social media intermediary, though the minister indicated players with more than 50 lakh users will be considered.