Twitter posts job opening for Nodal and Grievance Officers amid spat over IT Rules 2021

Twitter and the government of India were at loggerheads over the newly formed IT rules. But it seems like Twitter has finally thought of implementing it as it has posted new job openings for Nodal Officer and Resident Grievance Officer, which are basically required for the central government’s new Information Technology Rules, 2021 drafted for social media platforms.

The new order further mandates that all social media platforms with more than 50 lakh (five million) users will be required to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person, and a Resident Grievance Officer from India to make it easy to address the grievance mechanism for citizens.

The officers will have to acknowledge the queries of citizens in 24 hours and then resolve them in 15 days from the date of receipt. Earlier, Twitter was unhappy with new IT rules as the company thought that it would pose a serious challenge for freedom of expression. The Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) responded sharply to that and said that Twitter is trying to defame India and hiding its own follies.

These job posting details are available on Twitter's career and official LinkedIn page. The Nodal Officer’s description read, “You will be responsible for coordination with the law enforcement and government agencies in India to oversee the process of responding to reports, orders, and complaints, guided at all times by our mission to defend and respect the voices of the people who use our service in India. You will be the primary link for coordination between Twitter and these agencies on all legal requests relating to Twitter’s platform, including requests for content removal and user data disclosure." 

This position ideally serves for a mid-to-senior-career professional with relevant experience interfacing with the public or government officials on issues of national importance for a minimum of six years. The Resident Grievance Officer will then look after the grievance redressal mechanism of complaints from the people who use Twitter in India.