There have been unfounded rumours that Twitter and Facebook might face a ban in India for not meeting the deadline on complying with intermediary rules meant for social media platforms. The rules were notified on February 25. As per the Centre's guidelines, the rules were to be followed by May 25. This hasn't happened.

Because the significant SM players have not complied with the rules, which don't seem to be to their liking, there were rumours that they would face a shutdown from midnight of Tuesday. Many Twitter and FB users gave up on their accounts and wrote that their honeymoon on the wildly popular apps was coming to an end.

But a ban is not going to happen in all probability. A temporary shutdown might happen in the coming days but even that is not a foregone conclusion.

India is a cacophonic democracy where courts will likely strike a different note on matters like this one. WhatsApp, for example, feels that one of the rules notified by the Centre will compromise the right to privacy of its users. If WhatsApp moves the Supreme Court, the judiciary might strike down the rules on grounds that they are unconstitutional - even though they are not unconstitutional. This is what some prominent civil rights activists are saying. There is always a chance of such a thing not happening, though.

Meanwhile, social media has erupted with polarized debates. #BJP_Fears_SocialMedia has started trending on Twitter. This is just one of the many political hashtags trending since Tuesday.

On Monday evening, the Delhi special cell police visited the Twitter office. It was over the labelling of a tweet by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra as 'Manipulated Media'. No self-respecting country would allow tech giants to label news as they like. They are mere intermediaries. They have no authority to deem some news story as fake as per their whims.

Several voices are saying that Twitter and Facebook should submit to the rules as Koo has done.