Backstory:Â From âPartly Unfreeâ to âFully Unfreeâ? The New IT Rules Could Hasten the Slide
A fortnightly column from The Wire s public editor.
Photo: Athul Cyriac Ajay/Unsplash
Tech13/Mar/2021
The two Union ministers, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, who had jointly unveiled the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, at a press conference on February 25, are today hard at work trying to defuse the blowback.
Barely had the import of their exertions sunk in within the country, when uncomfortable news flowed in from without. In early March, the US-based Freedom House report lowered Indiaâs rank from a âfreeâ to a âpartly freeâ country followed by Swedenâs V-Dem Institute, that had once ranked India as the âworldâs largest democracyâ, now considering it an âelectoral autocracyâ. The decline in the standards of media freedom in India was a major para
A Mala Fide Attempt to Control Independent Digital Media
The new rules framed unfairly lump news sites with OTT platforms and social media and must be rolled back.
Representative image of two girls operating their smartphones. Photo: Vural Cam/Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Tech01/Mar/2021
In recent times India has seen serious erosion in key institutions which form the scaffolding of her constitutional democracy. Indians have lived through acute anxiety over the deterioration in the functioning of parliament and the judiciary. To this one can now add the media, which is regarded as the fourth pillar of our democracy.
The new Information Technology rules notified by the government give unprecedented powers to the executive to summarily take down content from digital news media platforms on vague grounds, and without so much as giving the publisher a hearing. And this is being done in the name of regulating all internet-based media platforms across the board â including news, entertai
No Legislative Discussion , Media Ripe for Targeting : English Editorials Slam New IT Rules
Several English language newspapers noted that the rules were brought through a process that circumvented the set legislative path and meditated deeply on their repercussions for online media.
Illustration of some of the editorials on the IT Rules, 2021.
Tech01/Mar/2021
New Delhi: Several English newspapers â many of whom have flourishing online versions â ran editorials that openly criticised aspects of the Centre’s move to introduce greater oversight for social media, digital media and OTT platforms through the new IT rules.
The âInformation Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021,’ offers the largest shake-up in the technology and news regulation space in nearly a decade. In several analyses, explainers and pieces,
Explainer: How the New IT Rules Take Away Our Digital Rights
Several proposals in their present form suffer from unconstitutionality and will undermine free expression and privacy for internet users in India.
Illustration: The Wire
Tech26/Feb/2021
Here we will provide you with information about everything that has happened and is happening with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. We provide you a quick rundown on its contentious history, the need for starting afresh on this vital conversation about platform accountability and also an analysis of the present draft of the rules. Given that it seeks to now even regulate digital news platforms and OTT content providers, we recommend a fresh consultation and greater transparency. Several proposals in their present form suffer from unconstitutionality and will undermine free expression and privacy for internet users in India.