Information technology guidelines for intermediaries and digital media ethics code rules 2021

Information technology guidelines for intermediaries and digital media ethics code rules 2021

• 1.
  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 FILMA V ASSOCIATE PARTNER ALTACIT GLOBAL CHENNAI
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 INTRODUCTION  The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were notified on February 25, 2021.  The Rules have been notified under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Act provides for the regulation of electronic transactions and cybercrime.  The 2021 Rules replace the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com These Rules seek to address all these issues and to regulate the following categories of intermediaries and digital media entities: i. intermediaries and social media intermediaries (including significant social media intermediaries) ii. publishers of news and current affairs content, including news aggregators, news agencies, and individual news reporters to the extent they are transmitting content in the course of a systematic business, professional or commercial activity; and iii. publishers of online curated content, which appear to include publishers (including individual creators) transmitting content in the course of a systematic business, professional or commercial activity. What are these rules?
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com The Rules are divided into two parts: (A) Due diligence obligations applicable to intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, which will be administered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT; and (B) Code of ethics and related safeguards and procedures applicable to entities in the digital media space, which will be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com PART A – INTERMEDIARIES Provisions on intermediaries Two Categories of Social Media Intermediaries: the Rules make a distinction between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries According to the rules, this has been done to encourage innovations and enable growth of new social media intermediaries without subjecting smaller platforms to significant compliance requirements. This distinction is based on the number of users on the social media platform. Government is empowered to notify the threshold of the user base that will distinguish between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. The Rules require the significant social media intermediaries to follow certain additional due diligence. Overview of the provisions introduced by the Rules.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com The Rules transpose the requirements that existed under the Old Intermediary Guidelines (such as the requirement to prominently publish the terms of use, privacy policy and user agreement), and prescribe the following additional requirements: 1. Annual notifications to users - All intermediaries must periodically, and at least once every year, inform its users of any change to the rules and regulations, terms of use or privacy policy and the consequences of non-compliance 2. Take down procedure - The intermediaries must remove or disable access to unlawful content within 36 hours from the receipt of such order or direction and may also voluntarily take down any prohibited information.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com 3. Grievance redressal mechanism - The Rules require an intermediary to constitute a grievance redressal mechanism and to acknowledge receipt of user complaints within 24 hours and resolve disputes within 15 days 4. Retention of records - Intermediaries must retain information and user registration records for a period of 180 days. 5.Assistance to the Government Agencies - The Rules require information to be provided within 72 hours from the receipt of the order.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com 6. Obligations for News and Current Affairs Content (i) publish a clear and concise statement on its website and/or mobile application, informing publishers to furnish details of their user accounts to the MIB. (ii) provide a demonstrable mark visible to all users of the compliance by the publisher of the requirement to share information with the MIB.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com 1. Resident Officers and Local Presence Each SSMI must appoint an Indian resident employee as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) and the nodal person of contact of the SSMI. The SSMI must also have a physical contact address in India to receive communications. 2. Identification of the first originator SSMIs that provide messaging services must enable the identification of the first originator of information if required by an order passed by a court or competent authority under section 69 of the IT Act. 3. Use of technology-based and automated tools SSMIs must endeavour to use automated tools to proactively identify and remove unlawful content, including content depicting rape and child sexual abuse in any form. Additional Obligations for Significant Social Media Intermediaries
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com 4. Monthly Compliance Report SSMIs must publish monthly compliance reports indicating details of complaints received, action taken thereon, and the number of specific communication links or parts of information removed or access disabled as a result of proactive monitoring using automated tools. 5. Grievance redressal mechanism SSMIs must also enable the tracking of the status of complaints by providing a unique ticket number for every compliant or grievance received. It must also, to the extent possible, provide reasons to the complainant for any action taken or not taken.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com 6. Voluntary Verification for Users SSMIs must enable voluntary verification for users registering for its services from India or using their services in India, by using mechanisms such as verification by active mobile number of such user. Once such verification is completed, the user must be provided with a demonstrable mark of verification visible to all other users of the services. 7. Notification of action taken against prohibited content If an SSMI voluntarily removes or disables access to unlawful content, it must (i)notify the user who had created, uploaded, shared, disseminated or modified such content; (ii)provide reasonable opportunity to such user to dispute such action and request for reinstatement; and (iii)ensure that the grievance officer maintains oversight over such dispute resolution.
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com PART B – DIGITAL MEDIA - REGULATION OF PUBLISHERS OF NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS AND ONLINE CURATED CONTENT New Definitions introduced 1. News and Current Affairs 2. Online Curated Content 3. Publisher of News and Current Affairs 4. Publisher of Online Curated Content 5. News Aggregator
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com Key Obligations 1. Code of Ethics 2. Requirement to Furnish Information 3. Adoption of a three-tiered regulatory framework for grievances 4. Disclosure Requirements on the Publisher 5. Retention of records
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com In case of non-compliance with Part A & Part B, intermediaries may lose their Safe Harbour Protection and be subject to the various liabilities as provided under the IT Act and other content agnostic laws such as Indian Penal Code 1860. Consequences of Non-Compliance with Part A & Part B
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  CHENNAI C2-A, Industrial Estate, Guindy,Chennai - 600 032. Tel: +91 - 44 - 22501318, 42107341 BANGALORE Suite 920, Level 9, Raheja Towers, 26-27, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001. Mob: +918277460648 COIMBATORE #1533, Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 641018. Mob: +919385432921 HYDERABAD Vatika Business Centre, Suite 10,3rd Floor, NSL Icon, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034. Mob: +917901691606 COCHIN Suite 49, 8th Floor, Centre A, Alapatt Heritage Building, MG Road, Cochin – 682035 Tel: +91 - 484 - 2366216 EMAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.altacit.com Thank you