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Information & Broadcasting and Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani on Thursday said that it is time to put laws, ethics and rules into place, which will help balance the media industry so that no one player becomes dominant.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 15th Asia Media Summit 2018 she said, “India is poised to have over 969 million internet users in 2021. This is the time to put laws, ethics and rules in place, which will help balancethe industry and avoid a dominant player who rules the roost. We have to look at opportunities to leverage our powers not only as civilisations and nations but also as institutions to ensure every citizen has a voice in the media industry.” She added that the media industry looks upon the digital world as not only a challenge but an opportunity. She said, “One of the challenges that needs to be discussed is how to attract, retain, develop and deploy talent, which frees good content from the trappings of revenue needs and bring about a balance in media institutions.”
This is the first time that the Asia Media Summit is being held in India and is being hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), in the capital. Over 220 foreign delegates from 39 countries are participating in the event.
Data misuse
Addressing another session at the summit, Minister of Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said India will not allow the country to become a centre of data pilferage and that data commerce through collusive methods cannot be used to influence its electoral process. He was speaking on the issue of misuse of data. He said that when the recent controversy surrounding data privacy surfaced, the Government took a very firm stand on these issues.
He said that there is a need to have a proper coordination on data availability, data utility, data innovation, data anonymity and data privacy. Also, a committee led by a retired Supreme Court Judge is looking into these issues and soon the government would enact a data-protection law.
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