‘Smaller firms are worried compliance costs may rise’

This picture has been used for representational purpose

The new social media intermediary rules could raise compliance costs for players, making it difficult for smaller companies to compete against bigger giants like Facebook, said industry watchers.

The new rules distinguish between ‘social media intermediaries' and ‘significant social media intermediaries' with 50 lakh registered users as the threshold for the categorisation.

Significant social media intermediaries will have to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer - with all three officials residing in India.

Software Freedom Law Centre founder Mishi Choudhary said the rules call for an undue burden and compliance and "ensure only larger players with funds and big legal teams are the only ones who will be left to offer services. (This could result in) increasing the barrier for entry and raising compliance costs for everyone."

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever