Comments
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Wednesday informed all State and UT governments that the recently released rules on digital media ethics will be administered by the Central government and States have not been vested with any powers to issue notices to digital media or OTT platforms.
This diktat comes after the Imphal West District Magistrate issued a notice to a Manipuri talk show, ‘Khanasi Neinasi’, on March 1, under the Centre’s new media regulations. The Central government had notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Codes) Rules 2021, last week.
Sole custody
In a letter sent to the Chief Secretaries of all States and UT governments, the I&B Ministry said that Part III of the rules relate to publishers of digital news and current affairs and online curated content platforms (OTT) platforms. “It is hereby informed that Part III of the rules are administered by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. These powers have not been delegated to State Governments/District Magistrates/Police Commissioners.”
The Part III of the new rules prescribe age-based classification and a three-tier grievance redress system mechanism which includes an oversight mechanism of the government at the third level. Under the regulations, information regarding the entities that serve as digital publishers needs to be furnished, along with periodical disclosures regarding grievance redress, in the public domain.
On Tuesday, I&B Ministry Secretary Amit Khare had also written to the Manipur State government clarifying that the authority to administer these rules remains with the Central government.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.