Powers Under New IT Rules Not Delegated to State Govts: I&B Min

On Tuesday, the Manipur government withdrew a notice it had issued to a digital news platform under the new rules.

This letter comes a day after the Manipur government - which had issued notice to a digital news platform under the Centre’s new IT rules - withdrew the same on Tuesday.

(Photo: Devika Dawar/The Quint)

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday, 3 March, wrote to Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories, clarifying that the powers under Part III of IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 have not been delegated to state governments, district magistrates and police commissioners.

This letter comes a day after the Manipur government - which had issued notice to a digital news platform under the Centre’s new IT rules - withdrew the same on Tuesday.

It emerged later on Tuesday that the notice was withdrawn after Amit Khare, Secretary at the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, wrote to Manipur Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar clarifying that the three-tier grievance redressal mechanism and the requirement of furnishing information and disclosure of information are to be administered by the ministry and not the state government or a local authority.

WHAT DOES THE MINISTRY’S LETTER SAY?

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s letter said that the powers under Part III of the rules are administered by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The letter also underlined that these powers have not been delegated to the state governments or district magistrates or police commissioners.

WHAT ARE THE NEW IT RULES?

Announcing drastic changes in the new rules for social media companies and a code of ethics for OTT streaming platforms as well as digital news media, Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, on Thursday, 25 February said they “are empowering the ordinary users of social media”.

The 30-page document, titled ‘Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’, places a host of strict obligations on online platforms and provides for a three-tier mechanism for regulation of all online media, which confers blocking powers to an inter-ministerial committee.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN MANIPUR?

The district magistrate of Imphal West district, Naorem Praveen Singh, had on Monday morning served a notice to the publisher and intermediary of a Facebook-based online programme called "Khanasi Neinasi".

The first such notice from the government under the new IT rules, it asked the publisher and the intermediary to furnish "all the relevant documents showing compliance of the provisions of the new information technology rules, failing which steps as deemed fit shall be initiated without further notice".

However, according to The News Minute, on Tuesday evening, the notice was withdrawn by the DM. "It is to inform you that this office notice of even number dated 1st March, 2021 served to you stands withdrawn with immediate effect," it reportedly said.