Information Technology Ministry republishes proposed changes to IT rules

BENGALURU: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has republished a fresh draft of the amendments to the IT Rules 2021. It has invited comments from stakeholders in the next 30 days. Last week, it pulled off the draft amendments within a few hours after releasing it.

"As the digital ecosystem and connected Internet users in India expand, so do the challenges and problems faced by them, as well as some of the infirmities and gaps that exist in the current rule vis-a-vis Big Tech platform. Therefore, new amendments have been proposed to the IT Rules 2021, to address these challenges and gaps," it said in a note.

It will also arrange a formal public consultation meeting by mid-June. It also said that this will not impact early-stage or growth-stage Indian companies or start-ups.

The IT ministry said the proposed rule requires intermediaries to respect the rights guaranteed to users under the Constitution of India. This has been made necessary because a number of Intermediaries have acted in violation of the constitutional rights of Indian citizens.

It also proposed to create an appellate body ‘Grievance Appellate Committee’. Users will have the option to appeal against the grievance redressal process of the intermediaries before this new appellate body.

The government has also proposed the requirement by intermediaries to address certain complaints regarding removal of content from a platform within 72 hours, because of the very nature of cyber space providing instant communication, outreach and virality, it said.