The Information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry on Wednesday wrote to chief secretaries of states and administrators of union territories, clarifying to them that powers under Part III of the recently-framed Information Technology Rules, 2021, have not been delegated to state governments, district magistrates and police commissioners, news agency ANI reported.
The ministry’s rejoinder comes a day after a DM in Manipur withdrew a notice issued by him to a talk show under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which were notified on February 25. The Centre had stepped in and directed the DM of Imphal West district to revoke the notice.
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“Part-III of these Rules relate to publishers of digital news and current affairs and publishers of online curated content [Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms],” the memorandum, dated March 3, and signed by Amarendra Singh, deputy secretary, digital media, in the I&B ministry, read.
“It is hereby informed that Part-III of the Rules are administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. These powers have not been delegated to State Governments/District Magistrates/Police Commissioners,” the memorandum said.
The notice against the show, ‘Khanasi Neinasi,’ which means ‘Let’s talk’ in Manipuri, was issued on March 1, served on the morning of March 2 and withdrawn the same evening after directions from the Centre. The show is hosted on the Facebook page of journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem, who has been jailed thrice by the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
On Tuesday, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar told Hindustan Times, “The rules are very clear that a DM does not have the power to issue such a notice. The mechanism is mostly self-regulatory and only in very serious cases can they complain to the ministry.”
Amit Khare, secretary, I&B ministry, had written a letter to Manipur’s chief secretary Rajesh Kumar, informing him that powers under the new rules have not been delegated to state government/DMs/police commissioners. The rules, he wrote, are to be administered by the ministry.
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