February 26, 2021
Earlier this year, scores of Indians flocked to Signal overnight after WhatsApp announced an update to its privacy policy. Within a fortnight, the app clocked 26.4 million downloads in the country. It was endorsed by magnates abroad and in India, including billionaire Elon Musk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Indian businessmen Anand Mahindra and Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
But now, India’s new social media guidelines could mean an end to Signal’s success in the country.
As part of the government’s plan to enact greater oversight, social media companies will be obliged to “enable the identification of the first originator” of information on its platforms if required by the authorities, according to the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 released yesterday (Feb. 25).
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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
Can digital news media be blocked? Yes, as it’s been wrongly clubbed with platforms who don’t publish their own content February 26, 2021, 8:12 PM IST
The writer is an Advocate, Supreme Court
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.
Digital news platforms will need to tell govt where they publish, size of subscriber base indiatimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiatimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Central Government Releases New Guidelines To Regulate Digital Content, Exercise Greater Control Over Big Tech
Source: ANI
The central government has drawn out rules to regulate social media companies, OTT streaming platforms, digital news outlets along with internet-based businesses and organizations to exercise further control over the big tech,
News 18reports.
The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 mandates that the government social media firms like Facebook and Twitter to delete controversial content as early as possible, but not more than 36 hours, once an order from the government or a legal order is issued.
Meanwhile, the concerned companies should also give information and assist with investigations within 72 hours once a request is issued by the authorities. Also, the firms should dismiss or remove any content regarding sexual act or conduct inside 24 hours of obtaining a complaint.
The government today announced new rules to regulate digital content and establish what it called a "soft touch progressive institutional mechanism with level-playing field" featuring a Code of Ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal framework for news sites and OTT platforms. The rules will empower users of social media, said Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 prescribes, for the first time, how digital news organisations, social media platforms and OTT streaming services will be regulated by the government. The rules include a strict oversight mechanism involving several ministries and a code of ethics that bans content affecting "the sovereignty and integrity of India" and that which threatens national security.