In February, the Indian government enacted the highly anticipated amendments to its intermediary liability regime. Titled the “Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,” which we refer to as “the 2021 rules,” these regulations supersede a decade-old set of rules on the same subject, ostensibly coming on the heels of a series of disinformation-mediated offline harms and high-profile litigation on the culpability of online intermediaries in the spread of sexual abuse imagery. These new rules seek to comprehensively regulate intermediaries by requiring a host of technical measures, compliance with stringent content takedown requests, and the incorporation of supposed standards of transparency and accountability in their processes. Further, these rules also seek to regulate a new set of entities under the encompassing term “digital media,” essentially comprising online news “publishers” and online curated content providers (OCCPs) such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The content of the 2021 rules became the subject of immediate controversy. Many digital rights organizations and media houses criticized the rules for, among other things, being undemocratic, encouraging self-censorship and undermining privacy. At least 17 petitions challenging the validity of the rules have also been lodged in constitutional courts around the country by various individuals, news organizations and associations, and entities such as Facebook and...
Read Full Story: https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-not-regulate-internet-lessons-indian-subcontinent
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