The Central Government has proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Under this proposal, it is proposed to expand the obligations of intermediaries to comply with directives issued by the government and to broaden the scope of regulatory oversight regarding online content. This includes news and current affairs content shared by users who are not publishers.
Set Deadline
The Ministry has sought feedback from stakeholders regarding the proposed amendments, setting a deadline of April 14, 2026, for this purpose. Significantly, these amendments propose to clarify the applicability of Part III of the IT Rules to those intermediaries that host news and current affairs content posted by such users who are not registered publishers.
What are the Provisions?
This move effectively brings the dissemination of news content by users within the ambit of the regulatory framework governing digital media ethics.
According to the draft, these provisions will apply to news and current affairs content that is hosted, displayed, uploaded, modified, published, transmitted, stored, updated, or shared on the computer resources of intermediaries by users who are not publishers themselves.
What Else is in the Draft?
Another significant proposed change under Part II involves the inclusion of a new Rule 3(4). This rule will explicitly mandate that intermediaries, as part of their ‘due diligence’ obligations under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, must comply with the clarifications, advisories, directions, SOPs, and guidelines issued by the Ministry.
The draft also clarifies that the obligations regarding data retention under Rules 3(1)(g) and 3(1)(h) shall remain effective without adversely affecting the requirements stipulated under other applicable laws.
Proposal to Expand the Scope of the Committee
This draft proposes to further strengthen Rule 14, for which the scope of the inter-departmental committee constituted under the rules will be expanded. This committee will have the authority not only to consider complaints received against content but also to examine matters that the Ministry refers directly to it. Thus, the scope of the Executive’s oversight role regarding the regulation of digital content will be further broadened.
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