The union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced the Information Technology (Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 earlier this year to regulate the content on various platforms.
To announce the new regulations for the social media platforms and news websites, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar called for a press conference earlier today
During the briefing, the Ministers said, the mainstream media cannot be exempted from the IT rules saying that it would be discriminatory towards the digital news publishers, if the Television and Print Media were exempted from the range of the new rules.
Saying that adding websites under the new law is well reasoned, the government had asked the respective platforms to focus on the steps to comply with the new restrictions under the IT Rules.
The clarification from the government on not exempting the TV and Print media from the ambit of the new rules comes days after the Ministry of Information and broadcasting received a request from the National Broadcasters Association (NBA) to exclude the News media from the new rules.
"In this regard, it may be mentioned that even at present, in respect of the traditional TV channels, there is an oversight mechanism in the government by way of an inter-ministerial committee (IMC), which looks at certain grievances relating to the violation of the Programme Code, a mechanism which is in existence since 2005," the Centre said in a statement.
To announce the new regulations for the social media platforms and news websites, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar called for a press conference earlier today
During the briefing, the Ministers said, the mainstream media cannot be exempted from the IT rules saying that it would be discriminatory towards the digital news publishers, if the Television and Print Media were exempted from the range of the new rules.
Saying that adding websites under the new law is well reasoned, the government had asked the respective platforms to focus on the steps to comply with the new restrictions under the IT Rules.
The clarification from the government on not exempting the TV and Print media from the ambit of the new rules comes days after the Ministry of Information and broadcasting received a request from the National Broadcasters Association (NBA) to exclude the News media from the new rules.
"In this regard, it may be mentioned that even at present, in respect of the traditional TV channels, there is an oversight mechanism in the government by way of an inter-ministerial committee (IMC), which looks at certain grievances relating to the violation of the Programme Code, a mechanism which is in existence since 2005," the Centre said in a statement.