AIR Spotlight: Government Measures to Uphold Media Ethics

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on: Recent government measures to uphold ‘Media Ethics’.

Participants

• Dr Pavan Duggal – Supreme Court Lawyer, Specialist in the field of Cyber Law, Cybercrime Law.
• Arjun. J . Chaudhri – AIR Correspondent.

Context – Reaffirming its commitment to protecting the safety and trust of the Digital Nagriks, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), GoI notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, related to online gaming and spread of false and misleading information regarding government business.

Introduction –

Digital media has been growing by leaps and bounds in India specifically during the covid pandemic and beyond. There has been a lack of appropriate clarity as to how digital media has to deal with digital content. There have been a number of cases where undesirable and unwarranted content was continuing to be published and transmitted by various media stakeholders and that is why the need was felt to amend the Information Technology Act, 2000. It was found that there is no robust complaint mechanism wherein ordinary users of social media can register their complaints and get them redressed within a defined timeline. The lack of transparency and the absence of robust grievance redressal mechanisms have left users totally dependent on the whims and fancies of social media platforms. 

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 or IT Rules, 2021 was notified by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY). It replaced decade-old rules regulating social media intermediaries (SMI) to make them more accountable towards providing open, safe and trusted internet.

• These Rules empower the ordinary users of digital platforms to seek redressal for their grievances and command accountability in case of infringement of their rights. 
• For the first time rules have laid down a code of digital ethics that needs to be followed by every digital stakeholder. These rules are applicable to all intermediaries – all social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries.
• The government came up with various common minimum denominators of accepted principles of what kind of content ought to be published and also put the ball back into the court of digital media stakeholders by establishing a soft touch  ‘self-regulatory’ approach. 

Amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) rules, 2021 

On 6th April 2023 the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MeitY), GoI notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics code) rules, 2021. These amendments lay out a comprehensive framework for Online Gaming Ecosystem and also deal with fact-checking related to online content pertaining to the Government.

• The amended rules now make it obligatory for the intermediaries not to publish, share or host fake, false or misleading information in respect of any business of the Central Government.
• This fake, false or misleading information will be identified by the notified Fact Check Unit of the Central Government. It is important to mention that the existing IT rules already required the intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature.
• The ‘fact check unit’ will scrutinise any online comments, news reports or opinions about government officials and ministries and then notify online intermediaries for its censorship.
• The rules already cast an obligation on intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature.
• Under the new amendments, social media intermediaries like Facebook and Twitter would have to take down posts and internet service providers would have to block URLs marked as fake — failure to do so could lead to social media platforms losing the safe harbour protections afforded to them under Section 79 of the IT Act.

Online Gaming-

Online gaming is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for Indian Startups & an important part of India’s vision of IndiaTechade and a USD 1 Trillion Digital Economy. Online gaming startups and innovation are being powered by young Indians across the country and these rules will provide clarity and certainty in terms of the policy framework for them. The amended rules will give a boost to legitimate online gaming activities in the country.

• As per the amended rules, it has been made obligatory on the part of intermediaries to make a reasonable effort to not host, publish or share any online game that can cause the user harm, or that has not been verified as a permissible online game by an online gaming self-regulatory body/bodies designated by the Central Government. 
  • The intermediary will also have to ensure that no advertisement or surrogate advertisement or promotion of an online game that is not a permissible online game, is hosted on its platform.
• The self-regulatory body will have the authority to inquire and satisfy itself that-
  • the online game does not involve wagering on any outcome,
  • the online gaming intermediary and the game complies with the rules, the requirements under law and 
  • a framework made by the self-regulatory body regarding safeguards against user harm, including psychological harm, measures to safeguard through parental controls, age-rating mechanisms, and measures to safeguard users against the risk of gaming addiction.
• The amended rules also put on additional obligations on online gaming intermediaries with regard to online games involving real money. 
  • These include displaying a mark of verification by the self-regulatory body on such games, informing their users of the policy of withdrawal or refund of deposit, etc.
• The government may notify multiple self-regulating bodies, which shall be representative of the online gaming industry.

Read more on the new rules for online gaming in the linked article.

Conclusion – Under the amended rules, the interest of the consumer has been protected and also opportunity has been given to the online gaming stakeholders so that they can on their own, voluntary basis, comply with the minimum parameters of the law of due diligence which have been given under IT rules and put their house in order by appropriate self-regulatory mechanism.

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