New Rules for governing Digital Media: Current Affairs Special Series

The centre notified new regulations governing the digital media industry to take control over the social media companies with local laws, in a move expected to significantly alter the way social media companies such as Google, Face book and Twitter even some popular streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime operate in the country.

               The notification defines the digital media by mandating news portals to follow similar norms that govern traditional media publishers, such as newspapers and television news channels. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, Under section 79 of the Information Technology Act, India has taken the toughest stand on regulation of social media and OTT (over the top) platforms in the world. The revised guidelines ensure that companies are also more accountable for the content on their platforms while complying with local laws and government orders. These new regulations on digital companies will be watched globally because India is one of the world’s largest Internet markets with over 700 million users. Union Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that social media intermediaries are required to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, resident in India to ensure compliance with law enforcement agencies along with a ‘Resident Grievance Officer’.

               By introducing new rules the Government has tightened its grip over the redressed mechanism by forming a three-tier structure, where the individual players in this sector will have only one level of self-regulation mechanism.