Centre gives 15 days to OTT platforms
Recently, the Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules have become the focus of news in the tech world. On February 25, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a set of guidelines on digital content for social media platforms as well as OTT and digital media platforms, and the companies were given a three-month deadline to comply. Despite the recent expiration of that deadline, no response has been received from most of the companies.
In this regard, the Center has written to OTT and digital media platforms to provide all their information and compliance status within 15 days as per the new IT rules. In addition to website, mobile app and social media account details, the ministry has also sought information on the grievance redressal mechanism in an appropriate format.
In a notification to the platforms, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said that a total of about 60 publishers and their associations had informed the ministry that they were already complying with Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 1, 20. The process of formation of self-regulatory bodies has begun. It added that the ministry does not require prior registration of digital media publishers, and one of the new rules provides for news and current affairs content publishers and online curated content publishers to provide certain information to the ministry.
By the way, the Center introduced this new policy to prevent offensive and controversial content on social media and to form a strict framework in this regard. The policy calls for digital news publishers to now inform the government of their activities, set up self-regulatory bodies, and implement a grievance redressal mechanism. The government has also directed the appointment of a nodal and grievance officer in India to ensure that the new digital rules are being observed properly. This officer will review all complaints and take appropriate action within 15 days.
In addition, their government has said that certain codes must be strictly followed, which until now only apply to print and television news. The government believes that social media platforms do not have a self-regulation code. Therefore, the government wants the agencies to include representatives from different ministries and form a committee to control the content. The new rules further state that only the committee will have the power to take action on allegations of code violations.