An increasing number of fake news and inflammatory content triggering communal tension has once again prompted Govt. of India to launch steps leading to regulation of online news and content.
The question is, will it work?
Meanwhile, reports are coming in that a comprehensive National E-commerce Policy is coming soon, which will place proper definitions and protocols for conducting online business in India.
It is indeed high time that such a policy exists.
Online News, Content Has To Be Regulated!
During News18 Rising India Summit, Union minister of information and broadcasting Smriti Irani has once again emphasised on the fact that online content and media, including news, has to be regulated.
She gave examples of newspaper media, which is regulated by Press Council of India (atleast ethically, via self-regulation), News Broadcasters Association which keeps a check on TV news content, but for online news and media, there exists no such body.
The Minister is talking about integrating online news media into a common regulatory body, which covers TV News, and print media into one.
She said,
“Communication today has to be a 360 degree engagement. Given that this is the need of the hour, we did, yes, amalgamate and bring everything in terms of the government outreach and communication under the bureau of communication. I think a first in Indian history,”
Interestingly, Directorate of Film Publicity (DFP), Song and Drama Division (S&DD) and the Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP) has already been integrated into Bureau of Outreach Communication (BOC), a step which is a first for India.
If we believe the intentions of the Minister, then online content, media and news would be also covered under BOC, very soon.
But, as we have seen in the past, regulation of online content has always backfired, and countries all over the world are still trying to find ways to ‘control’ it.
National E-commerce Policy: Need Of The Hour!
Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, while addressing a workshop on e-commerce, has strongly suggested creation of a legal framework, and a national policy on ecommerce in India.
She has admitted that Department of Commerce is still trying to figure out the nuances of ecommerce, and is trying to understand who owns the platform, who owns the product, and exactly who is the customer and vendor.
Besides, she said that there several policy makers, and stakeholders,, and there has to be a common ground.
She said,
“We do not have a national e-commerce policy and we do not have a consolidated legal framework to deal with it. So if we look at the e-commerce…we do need a broad policy that looks at the broad elements, that we will use to realise the opportunities,”
The new policy framework is expected to align Departments of IT, industrial policy, revenue, posts, and RBI into one for the ease of promoting ecommerce and online business.
We will keep you updated as we receive more inputs.