Social Media Guidelines & Rules for OTTs and digital media include new rules announced by Indian government for intermediary platforms, and social media intermediaries as well as for digital media and over the top (OTT) content players
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) announced its draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for social media platforms, OTT players & digital media. Here comes the ruling:
1. The government wants social media companies to follow a thorough mechanism to address complaints from users. It wants social media intermediaries to have:
- Chief Compliance Officer He will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and Rules.
- Nodal Contact Person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies.
- Resident Grievance Officer He shall perform the functions as said under Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
All these officials have to be residents of India.
Track originator of a message:
The ‘first originator’ of a message should be tracked. It further wants the significant social media intermediary to have a physical contact address in India published on its website/ mobile app or both. For players like WhatsApp, this could mean they will be forced to break encryption in India in order to comply.
OTT content platforms, digital media should self regulate
The government asks OTT platforms and digital news media to self-regulate and wants a mechanism for addressing any grievances.
While films have a censor board, OTT platforms will require to self-classify their movies and content based on age.