IT Rules 2021: How online news and current affairs commentators will be impacted
March 8, 2021
Social media companies and other online intermediaries are now responsible to monitor ‘news and current affairs’ content on their platforms published by individual journalists, freelancers, satirists or any other commentator. As a result online commentators like Faye D’Souza, Akash Banerjee (DeshBhakt), Dhruv Rathee, Amit Varma (SeenandtheUnseen) and even standup comedians could now fall under the government’s new regulatory framework.
Last week, the government notified the Intermediary Liability and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021 which introduced a new a regulatory oversight mechanism under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for news and current affairs/curated content on the internet. Legal experts told MediaNama that the rules clearly spell out various responsibilities placed on social media platforms when it comes to any and all online ‘n