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Contents
What is the News?
Internet and Mobile Association of India(IAMAI) has released a report titled “IT Rules, 2021: A Regulatory Impact Assessment Study”.
What is the purpose of the study?
The study assessed rules prescribed under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Codes) Rules,2021.
What are the key observations made by the report?
Originator Traceability provision: This provision was “technically infeasible” as implementing it on end-to-end encrypted platforms would break the encryption technology itself. Hence, they have recommended the removal of this provision.
Threshold of SSMI: According to rules, intermediaries having 5 million users are considered as significant social media intermediaries(SSMI). The report observed that the figure is too minuscule for a country with a population of 1.3 billion.
Data Retention: Experts have highlighted the inconsistency of the data retention mandate. Hence, they have suggested a 90+90 days approach where the intermediaries might store data for the original 90 days and would retain it after that only if needed.
Content Takedown: The singular timeline for the takedown of all grades of harmful content is burdensome. Hence, the study has recommended the creation of a risk-based content gradation mechanism to provide specific timelines for different grades of harmful content
SOPs on information assistance requests by LEAs: The majority of respondents from all stakeholder groups mentioned the need for clear Standard Operating Procedures to delineate the process and format of information requests by law enforcement officials.
Source: The post is based on the article “New IT rules likely to impact ease of business in India, says report” published in Business Standard on 5th July 2022.
