Getty Images
Synopsis
The direction India is taking to exert control over Internet services is fraught with worrying implications for data protection and cybersecurity. A set of new regulations drastically increases the mandates on Internet intermediaries in general, creates a class-based regulatory system for them, requires retention of user data, impacts encryption, and imposes unprecedented rules on news sites and curated video-streaming sites.
The new subordinate rules issued by the Government of India last week under the Information Technology Act are a complicated package to unravel. Their original purpose was to fill in a specific area which the Indian parliament had delegated to the government when it amended the Information Technology Act in 2008. The area is the due diligence that Internet intermediaries have to satisfy to use the safe-harbour provision it provides qualified
Synopsis
The government s standoff with social media platforms such as Twitter had intensified following the Republic Day violence linked to farmer protests in Delhi and Twitter s refusal to comply with government orders to remove allegedly provocative content and posts linked to farmer genocide. Koo will respect the laws of the land. We understand the importance of freedom of speech and at the same time we also understand the need to operate within the legal boundaries of our country of operation, Mayank Bidawatka, co founder of Koo, said.
Indian social media platforms such as Koo and Mitron said they welcome any measures to monitor and control fake information that spreads through social media platforms. Mitron said it has given recommendations to the government in the past and will keep doing so in future as well.
Govt starts discussions on amending India s Information Technology Act
Revisions to India’s IT Act will be keenly observed world over as that would determine how technology is regulated in one of the world’s largest data markets.
Synopsis
India s Information Technology Act may have been rendered irrelevant by the pervasive growth of smartphones and social media, while the advent of AI and Machine Learning require new norms to be drawn up, officials say.
New Delhi: The Centre has begun internal discussions to revamp the two-decade old Information Technology (IT) Act, said top officials, as massive shifts in technology call for changes in regulatory frameworks.