Understanding the Grievance Appellate Committee

The Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

• The committee is presided over by the top executive of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• As per the IT Regulations, 2021, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has developed the GAC portal.
• It offers a platform for consumers to lodge complaints about objectionable content and request its removal by social media companies.

The Key Objectives of the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC)

Let's take a look at the major objectives of the Grievance Appellate Committee:

• The primary objective of the GAC is to ensure the efficacy of the grievance redressal mechanisms on various platforms and make them more user-friendly.
• In 2022, a modification was made to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Regulations, 2021. This change mandates social media companies to respect all individual rights as per the Constitution, including rights mentioned in articles 14, 19, and 21.

Three Committees:

To address the complaints and implement these changes, three committees have been established:

• The first committee, responsible for handling complaints related to unlawful or criminal activities, is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The second committee, which handles issues related to false information or content, operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) chairs the third committee, which focuses on copyright issues and other illegal activities not covered by the other two committees.

Conclusion: The GAC plays a crucial role in the larger framework being developed, encouraging platforms to resolve disputes independently. This is in line with the government's objective of developing more and simpler dispute resolution mechanisms.