News Analysis India

Tag: IT Rules 2021

  • Meta Purged Over 17 Mn Pieces Of Bad Content On FB, Insta In India In April |

    New Delhi: Meta said that it took down over 11.6 million pieces of bad content across 13 policies for Facebook and more than 5.4 million pieces of objectionable content across 12 policies for Instagram in India in April. In April, Facebook received 17,124 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism and said that it provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 9,977 cases.

    These include pre-established channels to report content for specific violations, self-remediation flows where they can download their data, avenues to address account hacked issues, etc, Meta said in its monthly report in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. (Also Read: Lava Yuva 5G Smartphone Launched With 5000mAh Battery For Under Rs 10,000; Check Specs And Availability)

    “Of the other 7,147 reports where specialised review was needed, we analysed content as per our policies and took action on 4,303 complaints in total. The remaining 2,844 grievances were reviewed but may not have been actioned,” Meta added. (Also Read: SpaceX Will Enable Anyone To Travel To Moon, Mars: Elon Musk)

    On Instagram, the company received 12,924 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism. “Of these, we provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 5,941 cases,” it said. Of the other 6,983 reports where specialised review was needed, Meta analysed content and took action on 3,206 complaints in total. The remaining 3,777 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned.

    Under the new IT Rules 2021, big digital and social media platforms, with more than 5 million users, have to publish monthly compliance reports. “We measure the number of pieces of content (such as posts, photos, videos or comments) we take action for going against our standards. Taking action could include removing a piece of content from Facebook or Instagram or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning,” said Meta.

  • Government issues FAQs on IT rules; says norms consistent with right to freedom of speech, expression 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government on Monday, November 1, 2021, said the new IT rules are consistent with the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution, and do not place additional obligations on users.

    Releasing a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) around the intermediary guidelines, the IT ministry said the rules have a clear focus on protecting the online privacy of individuals, and that even with regard to identification of the first originator of messages, safeguards are in place to ensure that privacy of users is not violated.

    Overall, the FAQs seek to address queries that internet and social media users may have about the scope of the new rules, major changes it brings over past provisions, how the rules enhance the safety of women and children, and due diligence to be done by an intermediary, among others.

    In one of the questions, the ministry said the rules do not infringe on the right to free speech and expression.

    “The new IT rules, 2021 have been framed consistent with these rights. The rules place no additional obligations on users and do not contain any sort of penalties applicable on users,” it said.

    Further, the ministry said the rules define ‘social media intermediary’ as an intermediary which primarily or solely enables online interaction between two or more users and allows them to “create, upload, share, disseminate, modify or access information using its services”.

    Typically, any intermediary whose primary purpose is enabling commercial or business-oriented transactions, providing access to internet or search-engine services, e-mail service or online storage service, etc. will not qualify as a social media intermediary, the ministry said in the 20-page document.

    To qualify as a social media intermediary, enabling of online interactions should be the primary or sole purpose of the intermediary, it explained.

    “Therefore, typically, an entity which has some other primary purpose, but only incidentally enables online interactions, may not be considered as a social media intermediary,” it said.

    The scope of enabling online interactions would extend to facilitating “socialisation/social networking, including the ability of users to increase their reach and following, within the platform via specific features like follow/subscribe etc..”

    According to the ministry, offering the opportunity to interact with unknown persons or users, and the ability to enable virality of content by facilitation of sharing would also amount to enabling online interaction, it said.

    Separately, the ministry will come out with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) around the IT rules and intermediary norms that would contain details of the appropriate agencies who will have the authority to issue takedown notices to platforms.

    The IT Rules, 2021 are meant to benefit general users, who are using any intermediary platform, it said, adding that the norms provide for increased safety of netizens and ensure accountability of platforms by way of a robust grievance redressal mechanism.

    “The rules, by providing these reasonable mechanisms and remedies, strive to ensure that social media platforms remain a safe space for all users, free from cyber threats, harassment and unlawful content,” it said.

    As per IT rules, the chief compliance officer and the nodal contact person cannot be the same person whereas the roles of the nodal contact person and the resident grievance officer may be performed by the same person.

    “However, keeping in view the functional requirements of the nodal contact person and the resident grievance officer, it is desirable that SSMI (Significant Social Media Intermediary) appoints separate persons for the two roles,” it said.

    A parent SSMI can appoint common officers across its products/services.

    But the contact details to approach these officers are required to be clearly mentioned on each of those product and service platforms separately.

    To a question on whether detection of the first originator of the message could compromise end-to-end encryption, the ministry clarified that the intent of the rule is not to break or weaken the encryption but merely to obtain the registration details of the first Indian originator of the message.

    A typical principle of detection is based on the ‘hash value’ of the unencrypted message, wherein identical messages will result in a common hash irrespective of the encryption used by a messaging platform.

    “How this hash will be generated or stored needs to be decided by the concerned SSMI, and SSMI are free to come up with alternative technological solutions to implement this rule,” it said.

    It is pertinent to mention here that India enforced new IT intermediary rules earlier this year, aiming to bring greater accountability for big tech companies, including Twitter and Facebook.

    The rules require social media platforms to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and set up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

    Social media companies are required to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

    Significant social media companies — those with over 50 lakh users — also have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken as also details of contents removed proactively.

    “Internet for all of the good things represents the ability to deliver good governance, ability for last person in democracy to reach out to government…but it also represents significant growth in things we refer to as user harm and criminality and so policymaking has to address, grow the good, and address the bad in a manner that is transparent and effective,” Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said while releasing the FAQs.

    As the cyberspace is evolving, so is the nature of “good and bad” on cyberspace. The government’s policy making is aimed at ensuring that the interests of users are protected by way of greater accountability of platforms, he said.

    “Internet must always remain open…openness means it is bereft from not just state and government influence but is also free from dominant big tech influence and one of the ways to normalise that is to create among bigger platforms a culture of rules-based accountability to their users,” he said.

    He also said that the biggest stakeholders of the internet are millions of Indians who are using it and nearly 80 crore Indians are online.

    “We appreciate the government’s efforts in bringing more clarity on the 2021 IT rules. We look forward to studying the FAQs” a Meta spokesperson said.

    Facebook recently rebranded itself as Meta.

    When contacted, Google said the company is reviewing the FAQs document. 

  • Bombay HC stays provisions of IT Rules that mandate adherence to ‘code of ethics’ by digital media

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Saturday granted an interim stay to the operation of parts of the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 which require that all online publishers follow a “code of ethics” and norms of conduct.

    A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni stayed sub-clauses 1 and 3 of clause 9 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

    It is found “prima facie” (on the face of it) that these sub-clauses violated the petitioners’ constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, the high court said.

    Provisions of clause 9 also went beyond the scope of the substantive law (the Information Technology Act of 2000), it said.

    The order came on petitions filed by legal news portal The Leaflet and journalist Nikhil Wagle which challenged several provisions of the new IT Rules claiming that they were vague and likely to have a “chilling effect” on a citizen’s right to free speech guaranteed by the Constitution.

    The Rules went beyond the scope of the main IT Act and also the `reasonable restrictions’ on freedom of speech and expression allowed by Article 19 (2) of the Constitution, the petitioners said.

    The HC, however, refused to stay clause 14 that pertains to the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee with powers to regulate online content and deal with grievances and breach of rules, and clause 16 which is about blocking of online content in case of an emergency.

    As such a committee was yet to be formed, it did not see any reason to stay clauses 14 and 16 at present, the court said.

    The HC also did not stay sub-clause (2) of clause 9 which provides for action in case of the contravention of any law in force for the time being.

    ALSO READ | Rajasthan Madarsa Act: High Court notice to Centre, state government

    The petitioners had sought an interim stay on the implementation of the new IT Rules till the court gives its final decision in the matter.

    Senior counsel Darius Khambata, a lawyer for The Leaflet, had argued that the new IT Rules were beyond the rule-making power of the Union government as the “parent Act”, that is the Information Technology Act, did not provide for anything seeking to regulate ethics and content of online publishers.

    On Friday, the HC had asked the Union government what was the need to introduce the new IT Rules, 2021 without superseding the existing IT Rules of 2009.

    The Union government’s lawyer Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh had defended making code of ethics mandatory, saying the Press Council of India (PCI) also prescribes a code of ethics for journalists.

    The norms prescribed by the PCI along with the Cable TV code would be mandatory for digital media under the new rules, he had said.

    But the judges had pointed out that the PCI’s guidelines were in the nature of advisory norms of behaviour, and did not carry any drastic punishment for a breach.

    ASG Singh had contended that the need to bring in new rules was felt for checking the spread of fake news and illegal content in the digital space.

    “We may observe that as far as (clause) 14 is concerned, (there is) no immediate urgency as Committee is not set up. In these circumstances, oversight committee itself has not taken effect. We urge petitioners to come as and when it is set up,” the court order said.

    “We find no case is made out for stay on (clause) 16. Hence that is not stayed. (Clause) 9 prima facie seems to be against the freedom of speech. We have stayed 9 (1) and (3) and not (2),” the court said.

    The bench refused the Centre’s request to stay the order for a few weeks. It also directed the Union government to file a detailed affidavit replying to the issues raised by the petitioners within three weeks. The high court will hear the petitions further on September 27.

    (With agency inputs)

  • SC refuses interim order to stay proceedings of cases before HCs challenging IT Rules 2021

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order to stay the proceedings of the cases pending before the various High Courts that challenged the constitutionality of the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021.

    A bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjiv Khanna tagged the plea of Centre seeking transfer of all petitions challenging IT Rules, 2021 from various high courts to the top court with a plea pending before it on the regulation of over-the-top (OTT platforms) content.

    Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the bench for the stay of high courts’ proceedings, however, the top court said, “We are not saying anything. We are not passing any other orders except tagging it and directing them to list the same before the appropriate bench. Let the same come up on July 16.”

    The Central government approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of all petitions on the issue from various high courts to the apex court.

    The Centre has filed a transfer petition saying several high courts including Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Kerala high courts are seized of the issue, and the issue will be adjudicated by the apex court.

    It said a transfer plea was filed to avoid multiplicity of proceedings before various high courts and to ensure uniformity in the consideration of the rules under challenge.

    The transfer plea of Centre submitted that if such individual petitions are decided independently by high courts, the same may result “in a likelihood of conflict between the decisions of the high courts and this court.”

    India’s recently enforced law, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules 2021, came to regulate the functioning of online media portals and publishers, social media companies like Facebook, Twitter – rendering their services as ‘intermediaries’ – and as well as OTT platforms.

    According to amended IT rules, social media and streaming companies will be required to take down contentious content quicker, and appoint grievance redressal officers based in the country to deal with online content flagged by authorities and courts and assist in investigations.

    Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court, while hearing a seeking to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer under Rule 4 of the IT Rules 2021, gave two days’ time to micro-blogging site Twitter to come up with a specific timeline for appointing a Grievance Officer in compliance with IT Rules 2021.

    On Monday, the Central government informed the Delhi High Court that Twitter has failed to comply with India’s law regulating tech companies rendering their services as ‘intermediaries’.

    The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in an affidavit filed before the High Court, had stated that despite three months time being granted to all Significant Social Media Intermediaries to comply with the IT Rules 2021, Twitter has failed to fully comply with the same.

    Twitter has admitted that it was currently not in compliance with the 2021 IT Rules as it was in the process of appointing its Grievance Officer and the Nodal Officer.

    In India, Section 79 of the IT Act provides a shield to social media platforms or intermediaries such as Twitter from liability for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by it in certain cases.

    However, the Ministry has said when an intermediary failed to observe the IT Rules, the intermediary could be liable for any punishment under any law for the time being in force in respect of the offending content.

    Thirteen media outlets under the banner of Digital News Publishers Association and journalist Mukund Padmanabhan had moved the Madras High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the IT Rules, 2021 and asking to declare the Rules as ultra vires, void and violative of fundamental rights under the Constitution.

    A number of individuals and media organisations including – The Wire, The News Minute’s Dhanya Rajendran, The Quint, Pratidhvani, and LiveLaw – have also approached Delhi, Kerala and Bombay High Courts and new IT Rules.

    News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has also challenged in the Kerala High Court the Part III (Code of Ethics and Procedure and Safeguards in relation to Digital Media) of the IT Rules claiming they create an “oversight mechanism giving the executive unfettered, unbridled and excessive powers to regulate the content of digital news media”.

    All these petitions have largely stated that the rules curtail and restrict the freedom of the Press in India and claim the conditions imposed under the Digital Media Ethics Code and guidelines are onerous and beyond the scope of the Information Technology Act 2000. 

  • Government issues ‘one last notice’ to Twitter to comply with IT rules

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI:  The government on Saturday issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to “immediately” comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

    The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that Twitter’s refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated the microblogging site’s “lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform”.

    “Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources,” the IT ministry said.

    The ministry said that though with effect from May 26, 2021, “consequences follow” given Twitter’s non-compliance with rules “however, as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India”.

    The notice, however, did not mention a specific date to comply with the rules.

    ALSO READ | Twitter’s allegation of ‘intimidation tactics’ by police totally baseless, says government

    The IT ministry in its notice observed that the world’s largest democracy had been among the first countries in the world, outside the parent country of Twitter Inc, to enthusiastically adopt the microblogging platform.

    “Users who are abused on the platform or are harassed or are subject to defamation or sexual abuse or become victims or a whole range of other abusive content must get a redressal mechanism that the same people of India have created through a due process of law,” the IT ministry asserted.

    The people of India, who use Twitter, “deserve and demand” a fair mechanism to address their grievances and resolve their disputes, it said.

    “Leave alone proactively creating such a mechanism, Twitter Inc is in the inglorious bracket of refusing to do so even when mandated by law,” the ministry said in its notice to the company.

    Twitter declined to comment to an e-mail sent by PTI on the issue.

    MeitY further confronted Twitter saying it was dismayed to note that the platform’s responses to its letters neither address the clarifications sought, nor indicate full compliance with the rules.

    “It is clear from your responses that till date Twitter has not informed about the details of the Chief Compliance Officer as required under the Rules,” it said.

    Also, resident grievance officer and the nodal contact person nominated by the company is not an employee of Twitter Inc in India as prescribed in the rules, the ministry said and added that office address of Twitter Inc as mentioned by the company “is that of a law firm in India, which is not as per the rules”.

    The ministry has made it clear to Twitter that such non-compliance will lead to “unintended consequences” including Twitter losing exemption from liability as intermediary under the IT Act.

    Twitter has an estimated 1.75 crore users in India, as per data cited by the government recently.

    The row over Twitter’s handling of certain messages had recently blown up into all-out war of words between the Centre and the social media platform.

    The government had earlier slammed Twitter’s remarks on alleged intimidation and threat to free speech and said that the microblogging platform had sought to undermine India’s legal system, through its actions and deliberate defiance.

    The IT ministry had termed the company’s stance as an attempt to dictate terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    Twitter had previously drawn flak after it marked several tweets by ruling BJP leaders on an alleged strategy document of Opposition to target the government over COVID as containing ‘manipulated media’, triggering a sharp rebuke from the government.

    The government had earlier asked Twitter to “stop beating around the bush” and comply with laws of the land.

    The microblogging site on Saturday removed and later restored the verified blue tick on the personal account of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

    Officials of the Vice President Secretariat said the personal Twitter handle of Naidu was inactive for a long time and the Twitter algorithm removed the blue badge.

    The new IT rules for social media companies that came into effect last month mandate large platforms like Facebook and Twitter to undertake greater due diligence and make these digital platforms more accountable and responsible for the content hosted by them.

    The rules also require significant social media intermediaries – providing services primarily in the nature of messaging – to enable identification of the “first originator” of the information that undermines the sovereignty of India, the security of the state, or public order.

    The new IT rules require significant social media intermediaries – those with other 50 lakh users – to appoint a grievance officer, nodal officer and a chief compliance officer.

    These personnel are required to be resident in India.

    Under the new rules, social media companies will have to take down flagged content within 36 hours, and remove within 24 hours content that is flagged for nudity, pornography etc.

    The Centre had said the new rules are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.

    Non-compliance with the rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them.

    In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

  • Twitter’s allegation of ‘intimidation tactics’ by police totally baseless, says government

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday slammed as “baseless and false” a statement by Twitter that had alleged intimidation by police over the ‘manipulated media’ tags issue and threat to freedom of expression, with IT Ministry terming the company’s stance as an attempt to dictate terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    The ministry asserted that representatives of social media companies, including Twitter, “are and will always remain safe in India”, and that there is “no threat to their personal safety and security”.

    In a hard-hitting statement, the ministry said India has a glorious tradition of free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries.

    “Protecting free speech in India is not the prerogative of only a private, for-profit, foreign entity like Twitter, but it is the commitment of the world’s largest democracy and its robust institutions,” it said.

    Twitter’s statement is an attempt to “dictate its terms” to the world’s largest democracy, the ministry said, adding that through its actions and deliberate defiance, the company is seeking to undermine India’s legal system.

    Twitter refuses to comply with the very regulations in the Intermediary Guidelines on the basis of which it is claiming a safe harbour protection from any criminal liability in India, the ministry contended.

    It questioned Twitter on why it did not set up a robust mechanism of its own in India, and said the company’s officials in India routinely claimed that they have no authority and that “they and the people of India need to escalate everything to Twitter headquarter in USA”.

    The purported commitment of Twitter to its Indian user base thus not only sounds hollow but completely self serving, the ministry said.

    ALSO READ: No likely ban for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in India, may lose social intermediary status

    Despite having a large user base in India and earning significant revenue from its operations here, Twitter is “most reluctant” to appoint India-based grievance redressal officer and mechanism, chief compliance officer and nodal officer to whom its own users can complain when they are subjected to offesive tweets, the ministry argued.

    The government said it respects the right of people to ask questions and also criticise on these social media platforms, including Twitter.

    The government equally respects the right of privacy, it said.

    “The only instance of scuttling free speech on Twitter is Twitter itself and its opaque policies, as a result of which people’s accounts are suspended and tweets deleted arbitrarily without recourse,” the ministry pointed out.

    It asked Twitter to “stop beating around the bush” and comply with laws of the land.

    “Law making and policy formulations is the sole prerogative of the sovereign and Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what India’s legal policy framework should be,” the ministry said.

    The government said although Twitter claimed that it is committed to people of India, that commitment has been “most invisible in recent times”.

    Flagging some instances, it said Twitter chose to show the geo-locations of certain locations in Union Territory of Ladakh as part of China, and took several days to rectify “this blatant disrespect to India’s sensitivity and territorial integrity”.

    The ministry also called out Twitter for delay in taking action on its order to block provocative content that could impact public law and order, even though the company had been quick to act on similar instance during violence at US Capitol Hill.

    The ministry said that Twitter’s “lack of responsibility” had led to rampant proliferation of fake and harmful content against India and Indians.

    ALSO READ: Concerned over intimidation tactics by police, potential threat to freedom of expression – Twitter

    “Twitter Inc., a USA based private company, in its communique says that it seeks ‘constructive dialogue’, ‘collaborative approach’ from the Government of a sovereign democratic republic to ‘safeguard interests of the public’.

    It is time that Twitter disabuses itself of this grandiosity and comply with laws of India,” it said.

    Earlier on Thursday, Twitter had called the recent visit by Delhi Police to its offices a form of “intimidation” and said it was concerned about its employees and the potential threat to freedom of expression.

    Twitter had marked tweets by ruling BJP leaders on the alleged strategy document of Opposition to target the government over COVID as containing ‘manipulated media’, which prompted the police to visit its offices late on Monday.

    Opposition Congress has disputed the document, calling it fake.

    In its first official statement after the Delhi Police visited the company’s offices in Delhi and in Gurugram to serve notice to its country managing director as part of its investigation into the ‘manipulated media’ tag, Twitter said it will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency and protecting freedom of expression.

    “Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve,” Twitter said in the statement.

    “We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT rules,” Twitter had said.

  • Twitter’s allegation of ‘intimidation tactics’ by police totally baseless, says government

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI:  After Twitter alleged intimidation by police on the issue of ‘manipulated media’ tags, the government on Thursday condemned the statement issued by the microblogging platform as baseless, false and an attempt to defame India.

    The IT ministry asserted that representatives of social media companies, including Twitter, “are and will always remain safe in India”, and that there is “no threat to their personal safety and security”.

    The ministry slammed Twitter’s statement on Thursday as an attempt to dictate terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    ALSO READ: No likely ban for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in India, may lose social intermediary status

    Through its actions and deliberate defiance, Twitter seeks to undermine India’s legal system, the ministry added.

    “Government condemns the unfortunate statement issued by Twitter as totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India to hide their own follies,” the IT ministry said.

    Earlier on Thursday, Twitter called the visit by Delhi Police to its offices a form of “intimidation” and said it was concerned about its employees and the potential threat to freedom of expression.

    ALSO READ: Concerned over intimidation tactics by police, potential threat to freedom of expression – Twitter

    Twitter had marked several tweets by ruling BJP leaders on an alleged strategy document of Opposition to target the government over COVID-19 as containing ‘manipulated media’.

    The company said it will strive to comply with applicable law in India to keep its service available in the country.

    The microblogging platform further said it plans to advocate for changes to elements of the new IT rules for free and open public conversation.

  • ‘Appears to be ultra vires of previous act’: News broadcasters demand exemption from new IT norms

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) Thursday urged the government to “exempt and exclude” the traditional television news media and its extended presence on the digital news platforms from the ambit of the IT Rules 2021, saying it is already “sufficiently regulated” by various statutes, laws, guidelines, codes and regulations.

    “The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) had not contemplated the regulation of digital news media. Despite this, the IT Rules, 2021 seek to inter alia include traditional news media, i.e. electronic television news media having a digital news feed and presence on other digital media platforms, within its purview. This appears to be ultra vires the IT Act, 2000,” the NBA said, raising its concerns in a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

    The NBA represents several leading national and regional private television news and current affairs broadcasters which run news channels in Hindi, English and regional languages.

    “In any event, while the NBA appreciates the need for regulations, the traditional news media need not be subjected to and/ or covered under the scope of the IT Rules 2021, since it is already sufficiently regulated by various statutes, laws, guidelines and codes, regulations, and judgements,” it said.

    The NBA members are also required to adhere to the code of ethics and broadcasting standards and the National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) regulations and the guidelines, it added.

    ALSO READ | Concerned over intimidation tactics by police, potential threat to freedom of expression: Twitter

    The NBSA is an independent self-regulatory mechanism that is headed by an eminent jurist along with four independent members from the civil society, being persons with proven eminence in various fields of activity and four editors of the members of NBA.

    “The IT Rules 2021, if applied to the digital media of the linear television medium, would only result in duplication of the adjudicatory and redressal mechanism resulting in the creation of parallel adjudicatory bodies,” the NBA said.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 prescribe administrative regulations, which will make it “virtually impossible” for small or medium-sized traditional news media organisations to survive, the news broadcasters body said.

    “Any additional mandates as contemplated under the IT Rules, 2021 would result in increasing the employee costs and compliance requirements of the traditional television news media organisations along with duplication and creation of parallel processes,” it said.

    The NBA said the media organisations would have to devote “significant resources and time” in resolving each complaint and in defending themselves before multiple forums.

    “Therefore, NBA suggests that the focus should primarily be on further strengthening the already existing mechanism of NBSA and giving statutory recognition to NBA’s Code of Ethics under the Cable TV Rules,” it added.

    The NBA also said that the IT Act, 2000 and the IT Rules 2021, and “more specifically” provisions such as the blocking of content in cases of emergency, will “severely” impact the freedom of speech and expression of the media.

    ALSO READ | New rules designed to prevent misuse of social media; WhatsApp users have nothing to fear: IT minister Prasad

    “Since the news channels/broadcasters and their extended digital arms strictly adhere to the statutes and regulations applicable and are governed at multiple levels of redressal mechanism, if the IT Rules, 2021 are made applicable, it will not only lead to harassment of the news channels/broadcasters but will also suppress and violate their fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression and will also restrict news reporting in a fair manner,” the association said.

    “The NBA requests the exclusion of the digital news platforms that are owned and run by traditional news media from the purview of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021,” it said.

    The association requested that a “specific and express exclusion” should be carved out in the definitions of “digital news media and/or publishers of news and current affairs content” to exclude the applicability of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021 to the digital news platforms that are owned and run by the traditional news media.

    The association also urged the ministry to keep the IT Rules, 2021 “in abeyance/suspension”, specifically concerning the NBA members till the pending matters challenging the IT Rules, 2021 in the various high Courts are adjudicated upon and decided.

  • IT Rules 2021: Users will no longer have blanket privacy

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  What are the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021?The new IT Rules 2021 are guidelines meant to empower the users of social and digital media, including social networks, over-the-top. (OTT) platforms and online news sites, and hold those companies offering these services accountable for the content that is circulating on their platforms. 

    It is also meant to provide a means of addressing grievances of content that can be harmful to national security as well as the modesty or safety of an individual. 

    ALSO READ: Modi government tightens grip on social media content

    Also, according to the circular, “Rules about digital media and OTT focuses more on in house and self-regulation mechanism whereby a robust grievance redressal mechanism has been provided while upholding journalistic and creative freedom.”

    So, it’s just something companies have to follow?

    Yes, the new rules drastically increase the onus of social and digital media companies, but its implications reach down to individual users.

    ALSO READ: Ekta Kapoor, Vikram Bhatt welcome OTT guidelines, Onir calls it ‘death of good content’

    While large social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and their ilk will now be compelled to address grievances over the content on their sites and remove any offending materials, the user who first posted the misinformation or harmful content. 

    How does it affect me personally?

    While we take things like the privacy of our messaging and social media for granted, with apps like WhatsApp giving people the freedom to sometimes misuse the platforms for their own purpose, the new rules affect that anonymity. 

    ALSO READ: Details on originator of ‘mischievous info’ needed:  Govt releases new rules for social media, OTT platforms

    People who are used to coming up with rumours, spreading illegally obtained or morphed digital media, and other immoral/illegal data, without the fear of consequences, no longer have that blanket privacy. 

    If you spread misinformation or knowingly hurt national security or the dignity of a person or groups of persons, companies will be required to disclose your identity to the appropriate authorities. Basically, don’t be that person.

    Are these rules immediately enforceable?

    Like much of public policy, this is the framework that has just been announced by the government, with a lot of kinks to be still ironed out. Since these are an update to the IT Rules, 2011, they do not require to be passed by Parliament, meaning they will be enforced as soon as the Centre finalises its minutiae, including penalties, exact quantum of responsibility and other aspects. 

    ‘Need to abide by Indian laws’

    Centre says social media platforms welcome to do business in India, but they need to follow the Constitution and laws of India

    Who began the ‘mischief’?

    Social media platforms will be required to disclose the originator of the mischievous tweet in relation to sovereignty, security of the nation, says Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad .

    Three-tier grievance redressal mechanism

     The rules establish a soft-touch self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism for news publishers and OTT platforms and digital media, says the Centre

     It says publishers of news on digital media would be required to observe norms of journalistic conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act thereby, providing a level playing field between the offline (print, TV) and digital media 

    Age-based content categories

    The OTT platforms would self-classify the content into five-age based categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+ and A (Adult).

    Parental locks

    The platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as “A.”