New Delhi: At least 10 lawsuits have challenged the constitutional validity of government information technology (intermediary guidelines and digital media ethics code), 2021, better known as the ethical rules of 2021 digital media.
TOI explains what rules, and why stakeholders have challenged them.
What are these rules, and who do they apply? Notified on February 25, 2021, the rules seek to regulate social media intermediaries such as Google, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, such as digital media, including the OTT and Digital News platform.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEIT) will execute guidelines for social media intermediaries, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will oversee the code of ethics for digital media.
The government said these rules were intended to make the field of playing levels for print, television and digital media.
They also make a regulatory framework for digital media.
Per rule, all intermediaries and digital media platforms must make a mechanism for repetition of three level complaints and submit monthly compliance reports.
Complaints must be recognized in 24 hours and dumped in 15 days.
Secretary I & B is permitted to block or record content interim.
Why new rules are opposed? The intermediary of social media and digital news media has challenged the rules separately.
WhatsApp WhatsApp Facebook moves to oppose the rules to identify the “first originator” of the “Offensive” message, because it means breaking the end-to-end encryption of messages, which cannot be done for India.
Twitter has promised compliance but raises concerns, along with other social media intermediaries, for criminal liabilities.
Under the rules, compliance officers can face criminal acts for content posted on their platforms.
Why is digital news media against them? Before notifying the rules, discussions were held with the social media platform and the OTT platform, but not a digital news media platform.
The design of IT rules is also not included in the public domain for stakeholder feedback.
Therefore, digital news media oppose rules about reasons not consulted.
He also said that the new rules will produce excessive regulations and sensors as a home media inheritance has been regulated by the Press Council Act, program code under the cable TV network law, and other laws.
In the petition in Madras High Court, the Association of Digital News Publishers (DNPA), consisting of inheritance media houses such as the Times of India, India today, NDTV, etc., argue that the rules seek to regulate traditional media and digital arms that are not in the scope Information Technology Act, 2000.
DNPA also mentions efforts to create legal differences between physical newspapers and online versions “vague and arbitrary”.
The Press Trust of India news agency has challenged regulations at the Delhi High Court which said the government had introduced conditions such as ‘good taste’, ‘politeness’, and prohibited the ‘half truth’, no clearly defined in law, 2000.
It also said “the consequences of Draconian” non-compliance, including blocking, modification and deletion of content, and the compulsory publication of apology, will “deliver the era of supervision and fear, resulting in self-censure.” What about the OTT platform? Rules need the OTT platform to classify content into five main age-based categories, providing parental keys for mature content, and “reliable age verification mechanism” for adult content.
They are also required to regulate the mechanism of self-regulation.
Although the platform has compiled, they argue that the industry must have the freedom to decide the composition and work the self-regulation mechanism.
This has caused divisions between the OTT platform, which has established two self-esteem bodies, digital publishers of the Grieves Council content (DPCGC), which consists of at least 10 streaming companies, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Alt Balaji and MX Player under the Internet and Indian cellular associations (iAmai), and Indian broadcasting and digital (IBDF) foundations, consisting of platforms such as Disney Hotstar, Zee5, Sonyliv, Voot, Sun’s next, Discovery + and Jio TV, among others.