IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that WhatsApp users have nothing to fear about new social media rules, that are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.

The deadline to comply with the new legal rules meant for big social media platforms, which were issued by the government three months ago, is ending on Tuesday, threatening the operations of the likes of Twitter in India.

According to top official sources, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and others, which were required to abide by the rules notified in the gazette of India on February 25 under Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, have failed to comply on many accounts till date.

Prasad said that the government welcomes criticism including the right to ask questions.

“The rules only empower the ordinary users of social media when they become victims of abuse and misuse,” Prasad posted on micro-blogging platform Koo, and also tweeted.

The government on Wednesday had staunchly defended its new digital rules, saying the requirement of messaging platforms like WhatsApp to disclose origin of flagged messages does not violate privacy, and went on to seek a compliance report from large social media firms.

The new rules, announced on February 25, require large social media platforms — defined as those with over 50 lakh users in the country — to follow additional due diligence, including appointment of chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.

However, many Indians are upset with this news and are dreading the day when the social media websites will be blocked. But in the world of social media, bad news means memes along with sadness.

If you are upset too, then here are some of the funniest memes about the situation which might lift your mood.

Non-compliance with rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

Twitter and Facebook may not be able to operate in India from 26 May

Happiest person right now: pic.twitter.com/9vWk0MBgcf

— Tafsir🇮🇳 (@tafsircasm) May 25, 2021

how can they ban both Twitter and facebook? I’m not mentally prepared to live in a house where both me and my father will be unhinged.

— fake lizz (@AChxtiya) May 25, 2021