IT rule tweaks only clarificatory, don’t expand government power: MeitY’s S Krishnan

The latest amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021 are just clarificatory and don’t expand government authority, electronics and IT secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday even as digital rights organisations, civil society and social media giants protested the new rules.

Draft amendments unveiled last week have listed all intermediaries and all news content hosted by them online under Part III of the IT Rules that recognise entities to whom the code of ethics and procedure and safeguards in relation to digital media applies. As a result, user-generated content may now face the same scrutiny and treatment as those in place for publishers.