Government holds first consultation on Digital India Act to replace IT Act 2000

The government conducted its inaugural public consultation with industry and policy stakeholders regarding the Digital India Act (DIA), which aims to supersede the outdated IT Act 2000, crafted during the nascent years of the internet.

While the internet and information technology have empowered citizens, they have also posed several challenges, including user harm, security issues, women and child safety concerns, organized information wars, radicalization, hate speech proliferation, and the spread of fake news and misinformation, as well as unfair trade practices.

As per a government presentation, the existing Act suffers from several limitations, such as inadequate provisions for user rights, trust and safety, insufficient recognition of new types of cybercrimes, lack of regulatory mechanisms for illegal and harmful content, and inadequate principles for data and privacy protection, among other things.

During his presentation in Bengaluru, Union Minister of State for Information and Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, stated that the new law should be developed through adaptable rules and should cover the principles of Digital India, such as Open Internet, Online Safety and Trust, Accountability and Quality of Service, Adjudicatory Mechanism, and New Technologies.

"1st time in history of India - public consultatn for a new law starts with a dialogue on goals&design principles of #DigitalIndiaAct," Chandrasekhar tweeted. The minister explained all the tenets of Digital India to stakeholders through the presentation.

An Open Internet, as per the presentation, should have a choice; competition; online diversity, fair market access, Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Compliance for Startups.

Privacy-invasive devices such as spy camera glasses, and wearable tech may be mandated under stringent regulation before market entry with strict KYC requirements for retail sales with appropriate criminal law sanctions.

Content Monetisation Rules for platform-generated and user-generated content also found mention in the presentation.

Going ahead, the government will conduct a comparative study of all relevant global laws pertaining to the internet and technology in other countries, before coming up with the draft bill.

(With inputs from ANI)