The Ministry of State (MoS) for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has said the first draft of the Digital India Act (DIA) will be released in early June. IT executives were at the second industry consultation on the proposed Digital India Act, held in Mumbai in May, where Chandrasekhar made the announcement.
The government’s first public consultation in March on the proposed Digital India Act brought together various industry and policy stakeholders, setting the stage for comprehensive deliberations.
The Digital India Act aims to replace the outdated IT Act of 2000, which was formulated during the early stages of the internet revolution.
While the internet and information technology have brought immense empowerment to the public, they have also presented challenges such as user harm, security concerns, women’s and child safety issues, organised information wars, radicalisation, hate speech circulation, misinformation, fake news and unfair trade practices.
The current IT Act has been criticised for its limitations, including: a lack of comprehensive provisions on user rights, trust and safety; limited recognition of new forms of cybercrimes; absence of effective regulatory approaches for harmful and illegal content; and inadequate principles for data privacy and protection, among others.
The proposed Digital India Act aims to address these shortcomings and establish a robust regulatory framework for the digital ecosystem.
Stakeholders have been invited to participate in the pre-draft stage consultations, which began in March. Following the consultations, all involved parties will have 45 days to submit their feedback.
The forthcoming Digital India Act is set to introduce market practice guidelines to regulate the activities of Big Tech companies. It will also be distinct from the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, introduced last year, which focuses primarily on the processing of personal user data.
The scope of the Digital India Act encompasses areas including data localisation, social media regulations, online gaming, cyberbullying, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and internet platforms.
