OVERVIEW
The Union Government on Thursday announced a set of new rules and guidelines under the Information Technology Act as the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, 2021.
The new rules have been laid down to ‘empower the users of social and digital media', such as social networks, over-the-top (OTT) platforms and online news media.
FURTHER DETAILS
In the press conference chaired by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law & Justice, Communications, Electronics & I.T. Minister of India, and Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting, and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, it was announced that to regulate social media content, the government may ask the platform to reveal the author of the message or tweet.
Digital companies, whether India-based or abroad-based, shall have to appoint local officers who shall adhere to the requests of tracking or tracing of the creators of messages to pull them down.
'Appoint a nodal person of contact for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance to their orders or requisitions made in accordance with the provisions of law or rules made thereunder.'
Encrypted messaging apps, like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, are instructed to trace the originators of ‘contentious' messages, by either fundamentally altering their nature of platforms, or exiting India.
Streaming platforms will also have to undertake self-regulatory measures, adhering to a three-tier structure which eventually gives the government the authority to block access to any content.
Companies will have to bring in automated tools to ‘weed out' certain types of messages and delete them per the users' requests within 24 hours, in case the context is sexual in nature.
The document cautions OTT platforms not to impact India's sovereignty and integrity.
The document, notified under the section 79 of the I.T. Act, 2008 mentions that section 87 of the Act offers the authority to set up the said rules.
CONCLUSION
The document states that the rules mentioned shall come into operation after 3 months from the date of publication. However, experts say that, by introducing these rules, India has probably taken the toughest stand on digital media regulation by any country.
WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS REGARDING THE NEW GUIDELINES OVERLOOKING ONLINE MEDIA? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"
