PUNE (MUMBAI): “Digital Media Ethics Code is aimed at
stopping transmission of content which is objectionable to women or harmful to
children. Presence of a regulatory body can control and stop the spread of fake
news as well as make the publishers accountable. It is a essentially a
citizen-centric legislation” said Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting,
Vikram Sahay.
He was addressing a webinar on ‘Digital Media Ethics
Code’ organised by Press Information Bureau, Maharashtra and Goa for improving
stakeholder understanding of Part III of the Information Technology
(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified
by the Government of India in February, 2021.
Why
Digital Media Ethics Code?
Sahay explained the rationale and provisions of the
'new IT Rules', Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital
Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in detail and stressed the need for the ‘Digital
Media Ethics Code’ amid the explosion of digital content. “India is the world’s
fastest growing OTT market and the market is expected to reach $2.9 billion by
2024 which is an annual growth of 28.6%,” said Sahay.
Fake
News
Sahay pointed out that the online news portals are
the major source of news among Indians under 35 years of age and that there is
a 41% increase in time spent on such news apps. “When there are content
regulators like Press Council of India for newspapers and Cable TV Network Act,
1995 for News on TV there has been no such regulation for news on digital
platforms,” said Sahay. Similar is the case for OTTs which does not have a
regulation unlike that of Cinema Halls or Television. The Joint Secretary
clarified that the purpose of the Digital Media Ethics Code is to stop
transmission of content which is objectionable to women or harmful to children.
Grievance
Redressal
Sahay said that there will be an inter-departmental
committee to deal with unresolved complaints by news publishers or regulatory
bodies. He explained the three-tier regulatory mechanism where regulation of
content is undertaken at three levels – the Publishers, Self-Regulatory Bodies
and the Ministry of I&B. He also said that the news Publishers and OTT
platforms will have to appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer and display the
information about these complaints. “Disclosure of information in public domain
regarding grievance redressal by publisher and self-regulating body has to be
done,” he added.
Also, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will
collect basic information about people working on news portals or OTT
platforms, in a prescribed format by the stakeholders. Sahai said that so far
more than 1800 of people working on news portals or OTT platforms have already
submitted their details to the Ministry, where most of them have submitted
voluntarily.
Director General (West Zone), Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting, Manish Desai set the stage for the webinar,
outlining the changes in technology and society, which made these Rules
necessary. He spoke about the international policy environment, as to how
countries across the world have been dealing with the changes.
Digital news publishers, representatives of film
industry, Over the Top (OTT) platforms and online content producers
attended the webinar, along with academicians, researchers, students and
officers of Government of Maharashtra, Government of Goa and the central
government.
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