The government imposes new rules for social media and OTT

Check out the new rules set by the Centre for social media and OTT platforms.

The Centre on Thursday laid down new guidelines and rules in order to hold social media and other such companies accountable for the content posted by them. The government had been working on these rules since 2018, however, the new guidelines were issued after the former US President Donald Trump was blocked on social media and also after the recent spat between microblogging site Twitter and the IT ministry regarding the farmers' protests.

The new set of rules will make the companies have an executive to coordinate with law enforcement in India and also to set up a proper grievance redressal mechanism. The popular OTT platforms like Netflix, YouTube, etc will need to follow a three-tier regulation mechanism where they will have to self-classify their content into five categories based on age suitability.

Check it out:

Here are certain rules as per the new guidelines:

Social Media

Identify 'first originator' of content that authorities consider anti-national

Appoint grievance officer, resolve complaints in 15 days

File monthly compliance report on complaints received, action taken

Digital News

Follow Press Council of India, Cable TV Networks (REgulation) Act norms

Self-regulatory bodies to oversee adherence to Code of Ethics

I&B Ministry to form panel, oversight mechanism

OTT Platforms

Self-classify content into five age-based categories: U

(Universal), U/A 7+ (years), U/A 13+, U/A 16+ and A

Parental locks for any content classified as U/A 13+ or above

Age verification mechanism for content classified as 'A' (adult)

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