IT Act 2000 to be replaced with Digital India Act, prep work begins

. The Indian government has begun laying the groundwork to replace its out-of-date Information Technology Act, 2000 with a new Digital India Act.

· The first-ever public consultation held by the Minister and the draft of the Digital India Act will be firmed up after two more rounds of discussion with stakeholders.

· This legislation has to be future-ready and it has to be future-proof.

· The new law should evolve through rules that can be updated, address the tenets of Digital India, while “open internet,” “online safety and trust,” “accountability and quality of service,” “adjudicatory mechanism,” and “new technologies” would be the primary focus areas.

· The minister called for separate rules for each class of intermediaries, which it identifies as ecommerce, digital media, search engines, gaming, and AI, among others.

The Indian government has begun formulating the groundwork to replace its out-of-date Information Technology Act, 2000 with a new Digital India Act. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar held the first-ever public consultation on the new rules. The draft of the Digital India Act will be firmed up after two more rounds of discussion with stakeholders. He said that the draft is likely to be issued in April and it will be followed up with more rounds of public consultation for about 45-60 days before being placed in the Parliament for final approval.

Chandrasekhar shared a detailed presentation at a summit in Bengaluru, where he highlighted the challenges that the two decades-old laws have not been able to address even as the internet ecosystem in the country has radically evolved. For perspective, India had 5.5 million internet users in 2000, and now it is home to 850 million. "At a time when technology is disrupting so rapidly. There is AI, AI compute, blockchain, there are all types of big disruptive changes underway. That is a time that this legislation has been brought. So, this legislation has to be future-ready and it has to be future-proof," Chandrasekhar said.

The internet in the last two decades has evolved to host multiple types of intermediaries: ecommerce, digital media, social networking, over-the-top, gaming, and more. While cybercrime existed back then too, internet users currently face more security challenges like cyber stalking, phishing, trolling, and lots more. The minister in the presentation also takes reconnaissance of the proliferation of hate speech, disinformation, and fake news. “The new law should evolve through rules that can be updated, and address the tenets of Digital India,” the presentation said while citing “open internet,” “online safety and trust,” “accountability and quality of service,” “adjudicatory mechanism,” and “new technologies” as primary focus areas.

On online safety and trust, it stresses the need for “age-gating” by regulating addictive tech and protecting minor’s data, safety and privacy of children on social networking platforms, gaming, and betting apps, mandatory “do not track” requirement to avoid children as data subjects for ad targeting, among others. It also points out the need for digital user rights such as the right to be forgotten and the right to secure electronic means. Another highlight is the need to critically examine and regulate “discretionary moderation of fake news by social media platforms.”

The minister in the presentation called for separate rules for each class of intermediaries, which it identifies as ecommerce, digital media, search engines, gaming, and AI, among others. The presentation also called for an urgent need for a “specialized and dedicated adjudicatory mechanism” for online civil and criminal offenses. The mechanism should be easily accessible, deliver timely remedies to citizens, resolve cyber disputes, develop a unified cyber jurisprudence, and enforce the rule of law online, according to the upcoming Digital India Act.