NEW DELHI: Digital news platforms and publishers of online curated content operating in India will have to inform the information and broadcasting ministry about where and how they publish, the nature of content they release, and the size of their subscriber base within 30 days of the notification of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for existing platforms, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday.
Clarifying that this was not a mandatory registration process, Javadekar said the information would enable future communication and coordination between the ministry and digital news media platforms, whose exact numbers are unknown as yet. He was responding to questions about why stakeholders in the digital news media segment were not consulted by the ministry ahead of notification of the draft rules.
Social media companies will have to track 'first originator' of information under certain circumstances, while digital media and OTT platforms will have to resolve grievances pertaining to a 'Code of Ethics'.
What the new Code of Ethics for OTT and Digital Media mean for the industry adgully.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from adgully.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Govt unveils new guidelines to regulate content on social media, OTT platforms
In a press conference, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the new guidelines will keep an eye on the content.
Share
Updated: Feb 25, 2021, 05:02 PM IST
The government on Thursday unveiled new policies for social media and over the top (OTT) platforms.
In a press conference, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the new guidelines will keep an eye on the web content/OTT content and empower social media users. Social media is welcome for doing business in India, but such content is coming on social media, which cannot be called civilized in any way. Such complaints came to us a lot. A forum should be there for the problem of social media users. Social media is being used to spread hatred. Terrorists are also using social media. Complaints of wrong use of social media have been coming for many years, there is also the menace of fake news.
Digital news platforms must conform to journalistic and programme code
February 25, 2021
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad - The Hindu×
RELATED
Publishers of news and current affairs content will be required to observe norms of journalistic conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act according to the new guidelines released by the government on Thursday. The government said this was done to provide a level playing field for both offline and digital media organisations.
Digital news media operating in the territory of India will need to furnish information about the details of their entity along with other specified documents for the “purpose of enabling communication and co-ordination,” the guidelines said. This will need to be done within 30 days of the implementation of these guidelines.