GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM FOR ONLINE CURATED PLATFORMS

3078. COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state;

(a) whether the Government is planning to take initiatives to decriminalize the regulations binding the creative economy given their impact on freedom of expression and ease of doing business and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to nurture better awareness on consumer protection, the IT (Information Technology) Rules, 2021, digital rights and responsible user behaviour to ensure a safe online environment in the country;

(c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to set up a singular and exclusive grievance redressal mechanism for the online curated platforms; and

(d) the details of progress reports of all the national schemes introduced by the Government along with allocation and utilization of funds for its implementation, State/UT-wise?

 

(a) Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has informed that as part of the decriminalization exercise, the Government has moved the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 entailing decriminalization of 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 Ministries/Departments. The Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 28.7.2023 and 2.8.2023 respectively.

(b) For awareness generation about the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 various initiatives have been taken by the Ministry viz. (i) bringing out an information booklet and FAQs on the Rules (ii) Advertisement in newspapers informing citizens about the new rules, (iii) Webinars at national and regional levels for creating awareness amongst various stakeholders.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has informed that they have taken various initiatives through print media, electronic media and social media to ensure safe online environment in the country. Through its Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA) program, MeitY has been creating awareness  by highlighting the importance of digital safety while using internet. A dedicated website for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides relevant awareness material. ISEA has also published an exclusive handbook namely ‘Information Security Awareness Handbook for Women’, ‘Cyber Security tips for women’ and ‘Online Safety tips for Women @ Home during Covid 19’.

 

(c) The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 provides for a Three Tier Grievance Redressal Mechanism, as under, to look into complaints relating to violation of the Code:

• a) Level-I- Publisher
• b) Level-II- Self –Regulating Body (SRB) of publishers, and
• c) Level-III- Over Sight Mechanism of Central Government.

The Ministry has registered 2 SRBs for OTT platform to function as Level-II of the grievance redressal mechanism and also constituted the Inter Departmental Committee (IDC), as provided under Rule 14 of the IT Rules, 2021, at Level-III.

(d) The schemes of Central Government on various subjects, as allocated under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961, are implemented by respective Ministries/Department. The details relating to utilization of funds etc. in respect of these schemes are available in Annual Reports, websites etc. of the concerned Ministries/Departments, which are available in public domain.

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