<p>The government’s new rules to regulate digital news portals, social media and streaming entertainment services are seriously flawed, and overreach beyond their stated purpose. This is the government’s first major attempt to put in place a set of rules to regulate the working of social and digital media, though pressures and controls have been attempted and exercised in many ways in the past. It is also an effort to rein in ‘Big Tech’, which exercises huge influence and wields power, but it might affect the functional freedom of many legitimate players within the country. It is claimed by ministers that the government has adopted a “soft touch regulatory approach’’, but in effect, the rules have the potential to be used as a harsh weapon to curb free speech and to violate the right to privacy of citizens. </p>.<p>The rules wrongly put news media within the same regulatory bracket as social media and entertainment services. But the digital news media already follow existing regulations and conventions and exercise self-regulation. They are very different from social media, which is diffuse and spread out. All OTT and online news platforms will have to abide by an ethics code to be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. While the need for self-regulation is stressed, there is a three-tier framework for regulation, with an oversight authority manned by government officials armed with suo moto powers at the top. This is likely to be restrictive and inhibiting and lead to bureaucratic control and censorship. There is also no justification for bringing news media under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Many of the proposals do not have legislative support and have not received any parliamentary scrutiny. No consultations have been held with stakeholders of digital news, either.</p>.<p>The rules have also introduced a traceability framework for messaging platforms to identify the first originator of the information. This is likely to require breaking the end-to-end encryption of platforms such as WhatsApp, affecting the right to privacy. This, and many other rules, will have harmful consequences, especially in the absence of an effective data protection law. Restrictions on entertainment platforms can hurt creativity. Social media platforms have emerged as an important medium for self-expression, though they are also being misused. While they need to be accountable, the tendency of government is always to deal with them with a heavy hand. While content should not impact the country’s sovereignty and unity, many expressions can be interpreted arbitrarily and used against legitimate and genuine players of digital news media and users of social media, and that’s a danger for democracy and freedom of speech.</p>
<p>The government’s new rules to regulate digital news portals, social media and streaming entertainment services are seriously flawed, and overreach beyond their stated purpose. This is the government’s first major attempt to put in place a set of rules to regulate the working of social and digital media, though pressures and controls have been attempted and exercised in many ways in the past. It is also an effort to rein in ‘Big Tech’, which exercises huge influence and wields power, but it might affect the functional freedom of many legitimate players within the country. It is claimed by ministers that the government has adopted a “soft touch regulatory approach’’, but in effect, the rules have the potential to be used as a harsh weapon to curb free speech and to violate the right to privacy of citizens. </p>.<p>The rules wrongly put news media within the same regulatory bracket as social media and entertainment services. But the digital news media already follow existing regulations and conventions and exercise self-regulation. They are very different from social media, which is diffuse and spread out. All OTT and online news platforms will have to abide by an ethics code to be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. While the need for self-regulation is stressed, there is a three-tier framework for regulation, with an oversight authority manned by government officials armed with suo moto powers at the top. This is likely to be restrictive and inhibiting and lead to bureaucratic control and censorship. There is also no justification for bringing news media under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Many of the proposals do not have legislative support and have not received any parliamentary scrutiny. No consultations have been held with stakeholders of digital news, either.</p>.<p>The rules have also introduced a traceability framework for messaging platforms to identify the first originator of the information. This is likely to require breaking the end-to-end encryption of platforms such as WhatsApp, affecting the right to privacy. This, and many other rules, will have harmful consequences, especially in the absence of an effective data protection law. Restrictions on entertainment platforms can hurt creativity. Social media platforms have emerged as an important medium for self-expression, though they are also being misused. While they need to be accountable, the tendency of government is always to deal with them with a heavy hand. While content should not impact the country’s sovereignty and unity, many expressions can be interpreted arbitrarily and used against legitimate and genuine players of digital news media and users of social media, and that’s a danger for democracy and freedom of speech.</p>