Complying with the new IT rules in India, social audio app Clubhouse appointed Dan Ashton as the grievance officer in India. Ashton who is based out of the US was listed under Clubhouse’s legal entity Alpha Exploration Co.
As reported by MediaNama based on Clubhouse’s statement, the audio social network platform does not come under significant social media intermediary and hence does not require the officer to be based out of India.
Social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp had already appointed a grievance officer.
According to the new IT rules, which came into effect on May 26, 2021, “(The) Grievance Officer should only be contacted by users in India as per India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Additional user verification may be requested.”
The data from the mobile analytics platform SensorTower suggests that Clubhouse was downloaded over 8.6 million times as of July 23. The app created a huge buzz initially but saw a decline in downloads both in India and globally.
According to MoneyControl, after recording 14,000 downloads in April, downloads spiked to 1.5 million in May, followed by 5.9 million in June 2021 following the Android launch. Globally as well, downloads have declined from 7.7 million in June 2021 to 1.9 million as of July 23, 2021.
