India withdraws Apple Messages from new social media regulations

India's IT ministry has reportedly withdrawn its demand that Apple Messages comply with a series of social media rules, such as appointing local complaint staff.

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has previously banned many apps and asked Apple to remove TikTok. Now in separate regulations, it reportedly counted Apple Messages as a social media platform subject to new Indian laws.

Now according to India's Business Standard, MEITY has withdrawn a letter sent to Apple requiring compliance with the regulations. Unspecified sources say that the move is in response to Apple successfully arguing that Messages is not a social media app.

"Apple's iMessage is not an app available that can be downloaded by anyone," the sources told Business Standard. "It is a SMS like feature of the phone and hence MEITY has withdrawn a letter issued to Apple for seeking compliance."

India's new social media regulations, which came into force on May 26, 2021, place certain requirements on qualifying companies. Chiefly, they must appoint specific officers responsible for complaints, each of whom must be resident in India.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 apply to social media firms whose platforms have more than 5 million users within India. According to Business Standard, Apple Messages has fewer users, and this is another reason for MEITY withdrawing its letter.

Apple Messages, often referred to as iMessages, replaced the regular text messages application on iPhones with iOS 3.0 in 2009. It is about to be updated again with more new features in the forthcoming iOS 15.

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14 Comments

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

About 3 years ago

Hmm, there's a bit of a blurred line, when you can have 20+ people in a group chat, you're heading into social media territory. I think there's probably a viable argument that some of the laws around responsible social media should apply to messaging apps which support larger groups. I would be surprised if this is the last we hear of this type of thing.

EsquireCats 1268 comments · 8 Years

While some social media platforms include chat features between individuals or to a group, this isn't what defines a social media platform. In much the same way that a conference call isn't social media. Calling such platforms social media requires twisting the term "social" to mean any other contact without any kind of logic or limitation.

Social media includes public forum and discovery components. To use an example which demonstrates the difference: a person on a social media platform can choose to make a post which can be seen by other unknown users or the general public. This post can also be shared and forwarded in a way that links back to the original poster. All of these are absent in group chat environments such as Apple Messages, Zoom calls and so on.

One can attempt to argue that certain features of chat resemble social media, but these are tenuous and rely on an ignorant audience.

EsquireCats said:

While some social media platforms include chat features between individuals or to a group, this isn't what defines a social media platform. In much the same way that a conference call isn't social media. Calling such platforms social media requires twisting the term "social" to mean any other contact without any kind of logic or limitation.

Social media includes public forum and discovery components. To use an example which demonstrates the difference: a person on a social media platform can choose to make a post which can be seen by other unknown users or the general public. This post can also be shared and forwarded in a way that links back to the original poster. All of these are absent in group chat environments such as Apple Messages, Zoom calls and so on.

One can attempt to argue that certain features of chat resemble social media, but these are tenuous and rely on an ignorant audience.

I don't think the pertinent argument is the taxonomy of whether group chat is really social media, it's whether the laws that are being designed for social media should also apply to group chat. And that depends on the purpose of the laws. I could see there being some cross-classification application for laws around cyber bullying, for example, or for moderation of hate groups using the platform.

lordjohnwhorfin 866 comments · 18 Years

Sounds like a good policy all countries should adopt. Sure would have helped Myanmar.

mSak 24 comments · 5 Years

crowley said:

EsquireCats said:

While some social media platforms include chat features between individuals or to a group, this isn't what defines a social media platform. In much the same way that a conference call isn't social media. Calling such platforms social media requires twisting the term "social" to mean any other contact without any kind of logic or limitation.

Social media includes public forum and discovery components. To use an example which demonstrates the difference: a person on a social media platform can choose to make a post which can be seen by other unknown users or the general public. This post can also be shared and forwarded in a way that links back to the original poster. All of these are absent in group chat environments such as Apple Messages, Zoom calls and so on.

One can attempt to argue that certain features of chat resemble social media, but these are tenuous and rely on an ignorant audience.

I don't think the pertinent argument is the taxonomy of whether group chat is really social media, it's whether the laws that are being designed for social media should also apply to group chat. And that depends on the purpose of the laws. I could there being some cross-classification application for laws around cyber bullying, for example, or for moderation of hate groups using the platform.

iMessages is exactly an SMS platform and not social media. If India does not apply its social media rules to SMS platforms, it shouldn't apply it to iMessages either.