The much-awaited revised intermediary rules are finally out and it throws a pall not just over social media and online content providers but also on news media. The draft titled ‘Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’ circulated online even before the joint press conference by the ministers for electronics & information technology and information & broadcasting gives a lot to cheer from a user perspective but many tough spots for social media, OTT and online news media.
That we need revised intermediary rules is trite. User rights have received much needed fillip, especially with expedited takedown mechanisms for child sexual abuse, morphed pictures and what is colloquially referred to as revenge porn. Inclusion of the Prajwala directions, which were themselves consensus proposals from internet companies, empowers victims.
Regulation of OTT content through age gating and use of technology tools to prevent child sexual abuse content and violation of privacy are again needed. That online news media ought to be regulated to make them on a par with print media again is a fair premise. The mode and manner of the execution of both of these however are unfortunately untenable and the concern is that with the 2021 Rules resorting to grave overreach, the very tenuous legality of some of these provisions may impact the important additions being brought in for social media regulation.
Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/view-can-digital-news-media-be-blocked/articleshow/81240831.cms
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