Hint of thaw: IT Ministry to meet social media firms after House session

In what appears to be early signs of a thaw in relations after an extended public slugfest, senior executives from social media intermediaries such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, are scheduled to meet officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) no sooner the Monsoon session of Parliament ends on August 13.

According to sources in the know of the development, social media intermediaries are likely to highlight a lack of an SOP (standard operating procedure) on the newly enacted Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, better known as the IT Rules of 2021.

The intermediaries are also likely to list out the operational issues they faced since May 26, with respect to the new rules. They also plan to seek greater clarity on certain aspects such as monthly reports.