Source:- tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) will seek the law ministry’s views on the validity of the provisions in the draft document before notifying the rules, they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government is expected to notify within two weeks the\nrevised IT intermediary guidelines that seek to make social media companies\nmore responsible for content on their platforms, two government officials told\nET.
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\nThe Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) will seek the law ministry’s views\non the validity of the provisions in the draft document before notifying the\nrules, they said.
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\nMeitY wants to make sure that the provisions in the draft do not overshoot the\ndue diligence requirement under the larger IT Act.
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\n\u201cThe law ministry is expected to finaise the guidelines in a couple of days,\nand there is time of another two weeks from the Supreme Court,\u201d a government\nofficial said, requesting not be identified.
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\nMeitY told the Supreme Court in October last year that it would notify the\nInformation Technology [Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018 by\nJanuary 15.
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\n\u201cThe IT Act provides for intermediaries to conduct due diligence, but what all\ncan be permitted under that provision has to be carefully considered,\u201d the\nofficial said.
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\nThe guidelines propose additional responsibilities on social media companies.
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\nThese include verifying users through mobile numbers, tracing origin of\nmessages required by a court order and building automated tools to identify\nchild pornography and terror-related content.
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\nAll these requirements come under the ambit of under due diligence.
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\nMeitY is, therefore, \u201cseeking views from ministries, primarily the law\nministry\u201d on the validity of such rules under the larger IT Act.
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\n\u201cThese requirements should not overshoot the provision under the Act, neither\nshould they be so weak that they become ineffective,\u201d the official added.
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\nMeitY released the draft intermediary guidelines in December 2018, seeking to\namend the Intermediary Guidelines Rules of 2011. The rules fall under Section\n79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which provides internet companies a\nsafe harbour from content hosted on their platforms, but requires them to carry\nout a certain level of due diligence.
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\nThe guidelines have overarching rules for all the intermediaries operating in\nIndia, such as a proper privacy policy and updating users about it regularly,\nanother government official said, adding social media companies as well as\nintermediaries will have to operate with a certain degree of responsibility.
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\nEach clause in the guidelines is being scrutinized carefully as these rules\nwill set a \u201cglobal precedent\u201d, the first official quoted above added.
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\nThe government’s move to classify intermediaries based on function better\nreflects the modern nature of the internet and will help ensure that the open\ninternet remains a space for innovation and knowledge sharing, said Udbhav\nTiwari, Policy Advisor, Mozilla Corporation.
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\n\u201cHowever, traceability and 24-hour content take down timelines continue to\nthreaten the freedom of expression, privacy and security of users and should be\nurgently reformed before the rules are enacted,\u201d he added.
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\nET reported last month that the law enforcement agencies will be required to\nobtain a court order before they can direct internet platforms to trace\nmessages back to the originator, in order to make sure that they are not\nmisused commercially or politically.
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\nThe earlier proposal on amending the intermediary rules of the IT Act released\nin 2018 did not have the condition of requiring a court order to trace back\nmessages to senders on platforms. This had led to fears of unaccountable\ncensorship by the government. Facebook-owned encrypted messaging platform\nWhatsApp has resisted the demand for traceability citing user privacy.
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\nThe new draft also suggests that companies should collect phone numbers of all\nusers and verify it at least once every year. It adds that if the user is an\norganisation, social media companies can use an alternate verification method.
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\nThe proposed rules have also not budged on the requirement for companies to\nhave a permanent registered office in India with a physical address and\nappointing a nodal officer for coordinating with law enforcement agencies round\nthe clock.<\/p>\n