Websites Advised to Display Grievance Officer's Contact Details

The Centre on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that it has advised all social networking sites including Google and Facebook to display on their websites the name and contact details of the grievance officer to deal with complaints from any user or victim.

"I say that in compliance of the order, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had advised all industry associations to comply with the direction of this court," a central government official told a bench headed by Justice B D Ahmed.

Gulshan Rai, working as a Group Coordinator and Director General in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, filed an affidavit in theis regard on behalf of the Centre, after the court on August 23 last year had directed websites to display the name and contact details of grievance officers to deal with complaints, observing that "the social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut cannot flout the law just because they are a foreign company".

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He stated that the industry associations (of the sites) have also confirmed that they have advised their members to appoint and publish name of the grievance officers on their respective websites.

"The deponent has checked up and found that large number of intermediaries have complied with the orders of this court," the affidavit has stated.

Rai said that the Centre has also "received various letters sent by the industry association and individual intermediaries". The court has also sought the Centre's stand on the petitioner's allegation that Delhi Police, Indian Railways and others have created accounts on social networking sites despite government departments being barred from doing so under the law.