Digital India Bill To Tackle Online Safety Concerns, From Child Sexual Abuse Material To Social Media Misinformation

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, has revealed plans for new legislation that will establish strict control over the internet and tackle emerging cybercrime.

The Digital India Bill consultations will commence soon with relevant stakeholders, while the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is due to be presented to Parliament soon, Chandrasekhar told NDTV.

Expected to deal with several internet safety concerns, the Digital India Bill aims to fight against religious incitement material, patent violation material, and misinformation on social media platforms, in addition to combating child sexual abuse material.

In total, this bill identifies 11 types of content that we should not encounter on social media platforms, Chandrasekhar said.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, has listed 11 types of content that are deemed illegal. These include porn, harmful content for children, copyright infringement, misleading content, impersonation, content found to be against India's unity and integrity, computer malware, and banned online games, among other things.

The Digital India Bill aims to hold platforms accountable for hosting such content and give the government legal power in enforcing the law.

Highlighting India's digital transformation, Chandrasekhar said India was the most digitally unconnected country in 2014 but is now the largest connected country, with 85 crore people connected to the internet. This number is expected to grow to 120 crore by 2025.

The proposed Digital India Bill is aimed at making internet open and safe while protecting digital citizens.

As India is the largest connected country globally, the goal is to make it the most trusted and secure country in this context, according to Chandrasekhar.

The bill will place accountability on online platforms to maintain user safety and trust.