Government’s guidelines on social media regulation: Key points – Times of India

Government's guidelines on social media regulation: Key points - Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday released guidelines for regulating social media and OTT platforms.
Briefing the media, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar welcomed social media platforms to do business in India and praised them for garnering popularity and good number of users. They also hailed the platforms for empowered ordinary Indians.
However, the ministers said that it is very important to regulate the actions of social media agencies in India. For this purpose, the government has called for the establishment of a speedy grievance redressal mechanism.
Here are the key takeaways from the briefing:
Three-level grievance redressal mechanism:
* A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the rules with two levels of self-regulation.
* A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the rules with two levels of self-regulation. Level I comprises the publisher and level II comprises the Self Regulatory Body, while the third level is the oversight mechanism under the ministry of information and broadcasting.
* The OTT platforms will need to employ a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer under the new social media regulatory mechanism.
* The self regulatory body would be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or of a high court, or by a person of eminence from the relevant field, and can issue advisories to the publisher.
Disclose the first originator of mischievous tweet or message:
* Social media platforms upon being asked either by a court order or a government authority will be required to disclose the first originator of mischievous tweet or message as the case may be.
* This should be only in relation to sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, relations with foreign states, or rape, sexually explicit content and the likes.
Social media intermediaries:
* All social media platforms will have two categories of intermediaries.
* The Centre shall notify users number for a significant social media intermediary very soon.
* The intermediaries will have to have a grievance redressal mechanism. They will also have to name a grievance officer who shall register the grievance within 24 hours and ensure disposal in 15 days.
Self-classify content into five age based categories:
* All OTT platforms should self-classify its content into five categories based on age, namely: U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult).
* Platforms will be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as ‘A’.

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