The government on Thursday said that social media is welcome to do business in India but there should be no double standards and that it will have to comply with the rules and regulations issued from time to time so that its misuse can be prevented. The government also announced new guidelines to curb the misuse of social media platforms.
Highlights
Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar announced the new Digital Media Ethics Code.
This new document mentions section 87 of the IT Act, 2000 which offers the government powers to make such rules.
New Delhi: The government of India will bring the online news media publishers under the same gambit as the traditional media publishers, such as newspapers and news channels.
In a press conference, chaired by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law & Justice, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister of India, and Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change; Information & Broadcasting; & Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises on Thursday
The document mentions section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 that offers the government powers to make such rules.
: Thursday, February 25, 2021, 4:37 PM IST
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The Centre on Thursday nnounced the new guidelines for social media and OTT platforms and Twitter was abuzz with hot takes.
The announcement was made jointly by IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar as the matter concerned both ministries.
Some rules were laid down for significant social media and OTT platforms with an aim of countering fake news, hate speech, graphic imagery in cinema, etc. Concerns have been raised about rampant abuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news and the government is bringing in a soft touch regulation, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while announcing the new guidelines.
Synopsis
In the making since 2018, the rules come close on the heels of a huge stand-off between the government of India and micro-blogging platform Twitter.
New guidelines for Social Media, OTT Platforms: How will it impact you?
Related
The government issued new rules to police online content that mandate social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to take down flagged posts with 36 hours of receiving a notice, direct encrypted messaging apps to trace certain messages back to the originator along with introducing a mechanism for voluntarily verification of users as a means to curb fake and anonymous posting on social media. These will have a major impact on the way social media platforms are regulated and governed in India.