Will Govt’s guidelines for digital news platforms create a level playing field?

Digital news platforms have been brought under regulation through Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 announced by the Government. The guidelines have been framed under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and it supersedes the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.

According to these guidelines, publishers of news on digital media would be required to observe Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act thereby providing a level playing field between the offline (Print, TV) and digital media.

The Government emphasised that the rules establish a soft tough self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism, which includes:

Level-I: Self-regulation by the publishers;

Level-II: Self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the publishers;

Level-III: Oversight mechanism.

Self-regulation by the Publisher: Publisher shall appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer based in India who shall be responsible for the redressal of grievances received by it. The officer shall take decision on every grievance received by it within 15 days.

Self-Regulatory Body: There may be one or more self-regulatory bodies of publishers. Such a body shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court or independent eminent person and have not more than six members. Such a body will have to register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This body will oversee the adherence by the publisher to the Code of Ethics and address grievances that have not be been resolved by the publisher within 15 days. Also, an Inter-Departmental Committee will be established by the MIB for hearing grievances.

Oversight Mechanism: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall formulate an oversight mechanism. It shall publish a charter for self-regulating bodies, including Codes of Practices. It shall establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing grievances.

On being asked about the lack of consultation with digital news players before formulating these guidelines, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar replied, “We don’t know how many digital news portals there are. If we don’t know, how will we consult with them? Our doors are always open for suggestions and consultations.”

Javadekar called upon digital news players to disclose their details and also said that since digital media platforms have no monitoring system like Print or TV, the Government is looking to create a level playing field.