The government, on February 25, under the ambit of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 , brought in detailed guidelines for digital content on both digital media and Over The Top (OTT) platforms, while giving overriding powers to the government to step in.
The new rules were unveiled at a joint press conference by Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
The Centre's new, stricter guidelines for social media intermediaries make it mandatory for platforms such as WhatsApp to aid in identifying the “originator” of “unlawful” messages.
It also require the likes of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to take down such messages within a specific time-frame, set up grievance redressal mechanisms as well as assist government agencies in investigation.
The guidelines has invited criticism that instead of soft-touch monitoring, the government has opted for predatory new rules.
Here are a few of our Editorials, Comment and podcast articles on it.
