2021 Year in Review | India’s IT rules and the threat to individual privacy

Notified in February 2021, the brand new guidelines got here into impact three months later. They required, amongst different issues, massive social media platforms and messaging apps to have the ability to establish and hint the “first originator” of any message. Additionally they stated these firms must appoint a chief compliance officer, a grievance redressal officer resident in India, and publish a month-to-month compliance report with particulars of complaints acquired and motion taken.

OTT platforms, on-line information and digital media entities, in the meantime, have been categorised as ‘publishers of on-line curated content material’ below the brand new guidelines and must comply with a Code of Ethics.

Listed here are the most important developments across the controversial guidelines this 12 months.

Govt notifies new guidelines governing digital media: On February 25, the federal government
notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 below the Part 79 of the Data Expertise Act.

In doing so it took what might be the hardest stand on regulating social media and excessive (OTT) platforms on the planet. When the principles got here into impact on Could 26,
we put together an FAQ addressing what social media platforms stood to lose.

WhatsApp sues govt: On Could 25, the day earlier than the principles got here into impact, WhatsApp
filed a case in the Delhi High Court against the Indian government, in search of to dam the brand new rules. “Requiring messaging apps to ‘hint’ chats is the equal of asking us to maintain a fingerprint of each single message despatched on WhatsApp, which might break end-to-end encryption and essentially undermines folks’s proper to privateness,” a WhatsApp spokesperson stated.

Twitter will get three weeks to point out compliance: Per week later the Delhi Excessive Court docket directed Twitter to
submit details of its compliance with the new rules in three weeks. It additionally sought a response from the union authorities on a petition stating that the platform had not complied with the rules.

Govt points FAQs on IT guidelines: In November, the Ministry of Electronics and Data Expertise (MeiTY) supplied readability on the IT guidelines
through a set of frequently asked questions. It stated the principles have been in step with the proper to freedom of speech by the Structure and didn’t place any further obligations on customers.

IT guidelines significantly undermine privateness, IFF says: Nonetheless, the Web Freedom Basis (IFF) shortly printed a 12-point fact-check of the federal government’s FAQs. MeitY stated the FAQs have been meant to “deliver readability” on the principles and “clarify the nuances of the due diligence” that intermediaries should comply with, however IFF stated
many claims were presented as facts in the document.

20 ‘anti-India’ YouTube channels, two web sites banned: In late December,
India banned 20 YouTube channels and two web sites for allegedly working anti-India propaganda from Pakistan, invoking for the primary time the emergency powers below the IT guidelines.