Digital Media Ethics Code is aimed at addressing grievances of common man: Vikram Sahay

The Digital Media Ethics Code, which are part of the IT Rules 2021, is aimed at addressing the grievances of the common man, Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Joint Secretary Vikram Sahay said while addressing a webinar on ‘Digital Media Ethics Code’ organised by Press Information Bureau, Maharashtra and Goa.

The aim behind organising the webinar was to improve stakeholder understanding of Part III of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified by the Government of India in February 2021. It is pertinent to note that the IT Rules 2021 have been challenged in Delhi, Bombay, Madras, and Kerala High Courts.

Digital news publishers, representatives of film industry, Over the Top (OTT) platforms and online content producers attended the webinar, along with academicians, researchers, students and officers of Government of Maharashtra, Government of Goa and the central government.

“Digital Media Ethics Code is aimed at stopping transmission of content which is objectionable to women or harmful to children. Presence of a regulatory body can control and stop the spread of fake news as well as make the publishers accountable. It is an essentially a citizen-centric legislation,” said Sahay.

Explaining the rationale and provisions of the new IT Rules in detail, Sahay stressed the need for the ‘Digital Media Ethics Code’ amid the explosion of digital content. “India is the world’s fastest growing OTT market and the market is expected to reach $2.9 billion by 2024 which is an annual growth of 28.6%,” said Sahay.

He also pointed out that the online news portals are the major source of news among Indians under 35 years of age and that there is a 41% increase in time spent on such news apps. “When there are content regulators like Press Council of India for newspapers and Cable TV Network Act, 1995 for News on TV there has been no such regulation for news on digital platforms,” said Sahay.

Similar is the case for OTTs which does not have a regulation unlike that of Cinema Halls or Television. The Joint Secretary clarified that the purpose of the Digital Media Ethics Code is to stop transmission of content which is objectionable to women or harmful to children.

Sahay said that there will be an inter-departmental committee to deal with unresolved complaints by news publishers or regulatory bodies. He explained the three-tier regulatory mechanism where regulation of content is undertaken at three levels – the Publishers, Self-Regulatory Bodies and the Ministry of I&B. He also said that the news Publishers and OTT platforms will have to appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer and display the information about these complaints.

“Disclosure of information in public domain regarding grievance redressal by publisher and self-regulating body has to be done,” he added.

Also, I&B ministry will collect basic information about people working on news portals or OTT platforms, in a prescribed format by the stakeholders. Sahay said that so far more than 1800 of people working on news portals or OTT platforms have already submitted their details to the Ministry, where most of them have submitted voluntarily.