Daily Answer Writing
27 May 2021

Q) Discuss the features of ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’. What Impact can they have on the nature of social media? (250 Words)

Source <https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/whatsapp-sues-govt-says-new-media-rules-mean-end-to-privacy/article34646518.ece>

GS 2: Polity

Approach Answer:

Introduction: The Centre on February 25 notified the ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’, which make it mandatory for platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram to aid in identifying “originator” of “unlawful” messages.

 

  • Features of the Rules:
  1. It envisages a category of significant social media intermediaries, the threshold for which will be announced later.
  2. In addition, the government said that it wanted to create a level playing field in terms of rules to be followed by online news and media platforms vis-à-vis traditional media outlets.
  3. Removal of Safe harbour Clause:
  • Existing Norm: Section 79 of the Information Technology(IT) Act provides a “safe harbour” to intermediaries that host user-generated content, and exempts them from liability for the actions of users if they adhere to government-prescribed guidelines.
  • The new guidelines notified on Thursday prescribe an element of due diligence to be followed by the intermediary, failing which the safe harbour provisions would cease to apply to these platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
  • Grievance redressal mechanism: the intermediaries, including social media platforms, should establish a mechanism for receiving and resolving complaints from users. These platforms will need to appoint a grievance officer to deal with such complaints, who must acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours, and resolve it within 15 days of receipt.
  • Ten categories of content that the social media platform should not host: These include content that “threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any foreign States”; “is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy, including bodily privacy; insulting or harassing on the basis of gender; libellous, racially or ethnically objectionable; Relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise inconsistent with or contrary to the laws of India”, etc.
  • Removal of Content: The rules stipulate that upon receipt of information about the platform hosting prohibited content from a court or the appropriate government agency, it should remove the said content within 36 hours.
  • Chief compliance officer: a resident in India, who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules. They will be required also to appoint a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies.
  • A need to publish a monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken on the complaints, as well as details of contents removed proactively by the significant social media intermediary.

 

Impact on Social Media:

Resolve the social, economic and security threat to the country:

  • Provision Grievance redressal mechanism: allows acknowledgement of the complaint within 24 hours, and resolve it within 15 days of receipt. Thus making it responsive to the threats.
  • Makes 10 categories of contents that cant be hosted OTT platforms: which includes content that:
    • “threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any foreign States”;
    • “is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy, including bodily privacy; insulting or harassing on the basis of gender; libellous, racially or ethnically objectionable;
    • Relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise inconsistent with or contrary to the laws of India”, etc.
  • Provision for Removal of Content: within 36 hours if the content is  prohibited from a court or the appropriate government agency.
  • Chief compliance officer: a resident in India, who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules.
  • Monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken on the complaints, as well as details of contents removed proactively by the significant social media intermediary.
  • Penalties for violation of these guidelines: Existing penalties of the IT act would apply.
  • Protecting Privacy: The existing penalties regarding breach of privacy would apply on intermediaries.
  • Censorship on OTT Providers: For OTT service providers such as YouTube, Netflix, etc., the government has prescribed self-classification of content into five categories based on age suitability. These are U, U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, A. Platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content that is classified as “A”.

 

Negative Impact:

  • Traceability, where instant messaging platforms which deploy end-to-end encryption that helps keep our conversations private will now effectively be broken. This is a challenge because now the government may require that each message sent through WhatsApp or any other similar application be tied to the identity of the user.
  • Cyber-security problem: mandate in end-to-end encrypted platforms could end up weakening the security architecture of the platform. This could render the entire citizenry susceptible to cyberattacks by hostile actors
  • Censorship: an oversight mechanism is being created without any clear legislative backing and will now increasingly perform functions similar to those played by the M/o Information and Broadcasting for TV regulation. For instance, as per Rule 13(4), this also now includes powers of censorship such as apology scrolls, but also blocking of content.
  • No Legislative backing: All this is being done by just an executive order.
  • Might curb dissent: A control over social media by the government can be a powerful tool to curb dissent.
  • Criminal liability: upon the employees for non-compliance by intermediaries, asking for it to be dropped in the interest of ease of doing business, even for the third party content.
  • Covid Crisis: During second-wave of COVID-19, intermediaries will find it extremely onerous to organise the capabilities and resources required to configure their operations with the fresh obligations imposed on them.
  • Against ease of doing business: These obligations include new frameworks governing the requests for information from the government, grievance handling of users, new avenues for blocking of content and the short set of timelines to respond to all these.
  • Breach of Privacy: Personal messages can be read by the government once encryption is broken.

 

Conclusion: Over the past two months, five industry bodies have written to the Ministry of Electronics and IT seeking an extension of six months to a year for compliance. Further, a litigation has been launched against the rules in Delhi High court. The government, which is pressured to address the issues of fake news cyber bullying, and other such crimes, must hold another consultation to discuss the sticking issues.

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