Centre Sends Notification To GACs To Handle Complaints Against Social Media Platforms

New Delhi, 28th January 2023: The center on Friday (January 27), gave notification to three grievance appeals panels that will handle user complaints against social media and other internet-based platforms.

The notification states that for three years beginning on the date of assumption of office, each of the three GACs (grievances appellate committees) will be comprised of a chairperson, two full-time members from various government entities, and retired senior executives from the industry.

The chief executive of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs will preside over the first panel.

Ashutosh Shukla, a retired member of the Indian Police Service (IPS), and Sunil Soni, a former chief general manager, and chief information officer of Punjab National Bank (PNB), have been chosen as the panel’s full-time members.

The joint secretary in charge of the Policy and Administration Division in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will preside over the second panel.

Commodore Sunil Kumar Gupta, a retired member of the Indian Navy, and Kavindra Sharma, a former vice president (consulting), both of L&T Infotech, has been named as full-time members of this panel.

Kavita Bhatia, a senior scientist at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will preside over the third panel.

Sanjay Goel, a former Indian Railways traffic service officer, and Krishnagiri Ragothamarao, a former managing director and chief executive officer of IDBI Intech, have been chosen as the full-time members of the third panel.

The notice is a part of the stricter IT regulations that were announced in October 2022 for the creation of GACs with government appointments.

The GACs were created to resolve any concerns users may have about how social media networks first handled their content-related and other grievances.