Bivas
IT Rules 2021 | New Social Media Rules in India | Whether Social Medias will be banned?
Bivas Chatterjee 31 May 2021

IT Rules 2021 | New Social Media Rules in India | Whether Social Medias will be banned?

There are lot of confusions going on relating to the newly introduced ITRules2021 which has come on 25th February, 2021 and since 25th May, 2021 there are lot of gossips and fake news going on and the questions before the people of India at large are:

 

Whether Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc. social medias going to be banned?

Whether our private call, chat etc. data are read secretly without our permission?

What is there in IT Rules,2021 or Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021?

 

As per Press Information Bureau,  Government of India, we find the following statistics:

The Users of various significant social medias: -

       WhatsApp users: 53 Crore

       YouTube users: 44.8 Crore

       Facebook users: 41 Crore

       Instagram users: 21 Crore

       Twitter users: 1.75 Crore

 

RECENT CASES –

In one recent case i.e. FACEBOOK INC. VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS., the issue relating to how and in what manner the intermediaries should provide information including the names of the originators of any message/content/information shared on the platforms run by these intermediaries and decryption of end-to-end encrypting chat-messengers who are to provide data in time of investigation etc. were raised and the question of any Rule to that effect was also discussed.

 

Making of the Rule…….

The Central Government introduced Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 due to –

Ø  Large scale proliferation of social media by empowering the citizens and simultaneously rise of serious concerns and consequences which have grown manifold in recent years.

Ø  Continuous spreading of fake news, abuse of social media in many ways attacking women by way of revenge porn, rivalries in abusive language, defamatory and obscene contents and blatant disrespect to religious sentiments.

Ø  Skyrocketing misuse of social media by criminals, anti-national elements.

Ø  Lack of control on OTT platforms, web series, etc.