27/02/2021 - Government Policies

KEY PONTS

·        The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has announced the proposed Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code.

·        The guidelines will cover social networks, digital media companies, and OTT platforms.

·        These guidelines have been intentionally designed so that India’s next-gen digital media innovators can propel the acceleration of value generation and inclusive empowerment.

·        These guidelines ensured an inclusive framework that has embraced the concerns of citizens, protects the freedom of speech and expression of creators,

·        The proposal has clearly-defined grievance redressal mechanisms that empower every social and digital media intermediary to self-enforce effective mechanisms.

·        With a special focus on protecting the online safety and dignity of users, especially women, the guidelines have prioritised affirmative addressal of the most serious issues that have affected India’s digital population.

·        The guidelines also address a controversial and contemporary, arbitrary censorship by social network companies.

·        Government of India to approach these important issues with a mindset of flexibility to support digital innovation will play in the country’s path towards becoming a $5 trillion economy.

Please review - 

India is the first large ‘open’ Internet ecosystem to regulate digital media.

In recent years, growth of digital content hosts - digital intermediaries and news publishers (eg. YouTube, Facebook), OTT platforms (eg.Hotstar) caused concern to governments and citizens, of –

•          Fake news proliferation
•          Online crime rise
•         Obscene, provocative material
•          Hosts’ refusal to obey law – eg. Twitter not blocking accounts per government request

Regulation will protect 700 million Internet users, 530 million Whatsapp users etc. from manipulation and content creators from arbitrary censorship.

‘Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code 2021’ –

•          Intermediary responsible for content hosted
•          Establishes three tier regulation– at company, industry and government level
•          Makes digital news publishers and OTT hosts compliant with Press Council of India and Cable Television Network Act respectively.

Digital Policy Leadership –

              In democracy, freedom of speech (Article 19) can be reasonably restricted by law only, not a company’s private policy. Thus, India brings internet companies under law.

Technological Innovation –

              The code presents an opportunity to develop new technology for effective identification and removal of unlawful content and digital content governance.

             By challenging itself to bring rule of law in the ‘vast’ Internet space, India brings democracy and ethics in digital policy and makes it an opportunity for technological innovation.

kindly review