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This is the first time such rules have been framed for digital and online media operating within the country's jurisdiction. The norms on social media come weeks after a spat between the government and Twitter over certain messages around farmer protests that the government saw as inciting violence. The government sought removal of about 1,500 accounts and messages, a request that Twitter complied with, only after being warned of penal action.IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said concerns have been raised over rampant abuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news.
Under the new rules, a three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established for OTT players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc. The Level 1 comprises the publisher which needs to employ a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and a resident grievance officer. All three officials will have to reside in India. They will have to publish a monthly compliance report and detail contents removed proactively.There will be a Level II self regulatory body which will be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or of a high court, or a person of eminence from the relevant field, and can issue advisories to the publisher. There will be a 3rd level oversight body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The OTT platforms would self-classify the content into five age based categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms would 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.
Under the new code, social media platforms will be classified under two categories - social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries - with the latter being subject to greater obligations. The government has fixed fifty lakh registered users as the threshold for defining 'significant social media intermediary', which will have to adhere to additional obligations and compliance under the new IT rules that seek to crack down on misuse of social media platforms.