Govt announces sprawling regulatory rules for digital, social media and OTTs

New Delhi: In a major move aimed at putting in check the misuse of significant social media platforms, the Central government on Thursday announced "strong" regulations for social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp as well as OTT players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. mandating them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and set up a complaint redressal mechanism with one officer based in the country.

The new rules also mandated platforms such as Twitter and WhatsApp to appoint grievance officers, disclose the first originator of any "mischievous information" and remove, within 24 hours, content depicting nudity or morphed pictures of women to protect the interest of national security and the sovereignty of India.

However, the rules for digital media and OTT platforms focus more on in-house and self-regulation mechanisms whereby a robust grievance redressal mechanism has been provided while upholding journalistic and creative freedom.

This is the first time such rules have been framed for digital and online media operating within the country's jurisdiction.

While announcing the regulations for OTTs and digital media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "There is Press Council of India to monitor the contents of print media, while electric media comes under the purview of Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and there is no regulatory mechanism for digital media. Similarly, there is a Central Board of Film Certification to regulate the contents of films, but there is no mechanism to keep a check on the contents of OTT platforms."

On rules related to over-the-top (OTTs) platforms and digital media, Javadekar said, the guidelines have been framed keeping in mind the difference between viewership in cinema halls and for television as compared to watching it on the Internet.

Interestingly, the government announced norms for social media weeks after a spat with Twitter over "blocking" certain Twitter accounts and messages around the farmers' protests that the government saw as calling for violence.

The government had sought the removal of about 1,500 accounts and messages, a request that Twitter complied with, only after being warned of penal action.

Elaborating on the new norms, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, "Social media companies are welcome to do business in India and empower Indians. We welcome criticism and dissent... but it is important that users of social media are given a proper forum for the resolution of their grievances in a time-bound manner."

Interestingly, the government announced norms for social media weeks after a spat with Twitter over "blocking" certain Twitter accounts and messages around the farmers' protests that the government saw as calling for violence.

The government had sought the removal of about 1,500 accounts and messages, a request that Twitter complied with, only after being warned of penal action.

Elaborating on the new norms, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, "Social media companies are welcome to do business in India and empower Indians. We welcome criticism and dissent... but it is important that users of social media are given a proper forum for the resolution of their grievances in a time-bound manner."

India is a large market for digital and social media companies and is witnessing strong growth on the back of booming smartphone sales and the availability of dirt-cheap data. Prasad said that intermediaries will fall into two categories -- social media intermediary and significant social media intermediary.

"The rules require the significant social media intermediaries to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer. All the three officials will have to reside in India," Prasad said.

Significant social media companies will also have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken, as also details of contents removed proactively, he said.

As per notified rules, if an intermediary fails to observe these rules, it would be liable for punishment under any law for the time being in force, including the provisions of this Act and those of the IPC.

For OTT platforms, the government sought to establish a 'soft touch' regulatory framework for players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and said they would have to self-classify the content into five age-based categories - U (Universal), U/A 7+ (years), U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult).

"Such platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age-verification mechanisms for content classified as 'A'," Javadekar said.