Grievance Appellate Committee launched; IT Minister says GAC powerful tool in ensuring accountability of platforms

New Delhi: IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday launched a grievance appellate panel mechanism, that will look into appeals by users against decisions of social media platforms.

The digital platform, Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC), is a powerful tool for ensuring accountability of platforms to their users, Chandrasekhar told reporters.

"This is one more milestone in the evolving framework to ensure internet is open, safe and trusted," he said.

IT rules had been strengthened in October to pave the way for formation of the Centre-appointed panels to settle often-ignored user grievances against the way social media platforms addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.