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Tag: Parliamentary panel

  • Parliamentary panel asks Google, Facebook to comply with new IT rules

    New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) has directed US tech giants Facebook and Google to comply with the new IT rules, which came into effect on 26 May.

    Both Facebook and Google officials had appeared before the Parliamentary panel on Tuesday regarding the issue of safeguarding citizens’ rights and preventing the misuse of social/online news media platforms. The panel chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had asked the officials of the social media sites to appear in person on the issue.

    According to media reports, the representatives were made aware of certain loopholes in their existing data protection and privacy policy mechanism and were asked to have stringent safeguards in place to protect the data privacy and data security of their users. The meeting was attended by Facebook India associate general counsel Namrata Singh and the company’s director of public policy Shivnath Thukral.

    Google officials also informed the committee that between January and March 2021, YouTube removed over 9.5 million videos for violating its community guidelines. “95 percent of these videos were first flagged by machines rather than humans. Of those detected by machines, 27.8 percent never received a single view & 39 percent received one and ten views,” officials told the committee, “During this same quarter, YouTube terminated over 2.2 million channels for violating its Community Guidelines. In this same period. YouTube removed more than one billion comments, the majority of which were spam and were detected automatically.”

    While officials from Facebook, Google, and Twitter have also appeared before the panel, representatives of YouTube and other Social Media Intermediaries will also be summoned in the coming weeks over the issue.

    The new IT (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) rules, 2021 were notified on 25 February and came into effect on 26 May. The rules recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media. As per the rules, each significant social media intermediary is required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies, and a resident grievance officer. All three should be resident Indians.

  • Parliamentary panel questions legality of new digital media rules

    Parliamentary panel questions legality of new digital media rules

    KOLKATA: The parliamentary standing committee on information and technology grilled officials from the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) and the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY) on the new rules for monitoring over-the-top (OTT) platforms, digital media and social media intermediaries.

    The parliamentary panel headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor questioned the legality of the new regulatory framework, according to media reports.

    Several questions on framing the guidelines were raised – whether industry stakeholders were consulted before framing the guidelines, if opinions were taken from intellectual people, civic society, and the judiciary. Another key point flagged was whether the rules are in conformity with the existing framework. 

    In their deposition, ministry officials have assured the panel that due process was followed before the new rules were introduced. They justified the need for such rules in changing times and also explained the rationale behind them.

    Earlier in a meeting, the panel told MIB officials that it hoped the ministry would implement the rules with due regard to the importance of promoting creativity and protecting freedom of expression while maintaining a robust oversight mechanism.

    On 25 February, the Centre notified an expansive framework to govern online content, titled Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and digital media ethics code) Rules 2021. It gave online content providers between 30 to 90 days to comply with the same. Under the new guidelines, a three-tier oversight mechanism for online content has been put in place.

  • Parliamentary panel for guidelines on sting operations

    Parliamentary panel for guidelines on sting operations

    MUMBAI: A Parliamentary Committee has asked the government to come out with guidelines and norms for sting operations.

    Headed by Congress MP V Kishore Chandra Deo, the seven-member Committee said: “The Union government may initiate steps for laying guidelines and norms for sting operations.”

    In its report on the alleged cash-for-votes scam, the Committee observed that carrying out sting operations in an unregulated manner, which casts aspersions on members of Parliament, erode the credibility of democratic institutions.

    It further added: “The Committee, is, therefore of the opinion that such motivated trial by the media needs to be regulated.

    The Committee said that sting operations are often driven by sensational quotients. It is to increase the TRP ratings of TV channels vis-a-vis their rivals and more often than not for monetary and other considerations.

    “The committee wishes to express concern over the fact that the media has been indulging in a race to achieve viewership through sensationalism on a competitive basis,” the committee said in its report.

    Expressing concern over the fact that the media is indulging in a race to achieve viewership through “sensationalism” in a competitive basis, it recalled that in the cash-for-votes scam one channel had implied that all members are susceptible to corruption.

    The committee was formed after three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs – Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora – stunned the nation by brandishing wads of cash in the Lok Sabha shortly before the Manmohan Singh government was to face the trust vote on 22 J

  • Parliamentary panel wants regulations for media

    Parliamentary panel wants regulations for media

    MUMBAI: A Parliamentary Committe has called for a favoured statutory regulations for the media as it was concerned over the live telecast of the 60-hour “Operation Black Tornado” conducted by the security forces during the Mumbai terror attack.

    The Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions, headed by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, said in its report presented in the House that live feed of commandos being air-dropped endangered the success of operations and safety of hostages as also the security forces.

    “The Committee apprehends that the live footage shown by TV channels to the viewers, could also have been used as free intelligence input by the perpetrators sitting far away from the place of incident who allegedly guided the attackers,” it said.

    The report further added, “Committee expects the media to treat information of sensitive nature carefully and endeavour to ensure that the interest of nation and lives of security forces and hostages in such type of operations is not jeopardised by live telecasting.”

    At the same time, it noted that the live coverage was partially restricted later because of “some good sense prevailing with suitable advisories”. Needless to mention, self-regulation by media otherwise was not in place, it said.

    Self-regulation is an ideal situation but it may not be effective to regulate the media particularly in the scenario of growing competition among the channels for supremacy in the business of ratings, it said.

    “The Committee is, therefore, in favour of having statutory regulations in place covering the print and electronic media, in the larger interest of the society, on the model of the Press Council of India vested with more powers,” it said.