Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday underscored the need for “laws, ethics and rules” to ensure that no one player dominated the digital media industry.
She was speaking at the inaugural function of the 15th Asia Media Summit 2018. This is the first time the summit has been organised in India. The theme is ‘Telling Our Stories Asia and More.’
“Do we look at the new evolving technologies from a position of suspect or do we look [at them] from a position of opportunity, from a position of consolidation or further expansion?” Ms. Irani said.
She said India would have 969 million Internet users by 2021, and the digital world should be looked at not only as a challenge but also as an opportunity. “This is the time to put laws, ethics, rules in place, which will help us balance out the industry so that we do not have one dominant player who rules the roost.”
She said India was the fastest growing advertising market, which was expected to touch the $10.59-billion mark by the end of 2018, and mobile spend was estimated to grow to $1.55 billion in 2018.
