Becoming a space for uncontrolled freedom of expression: Ashwini Vaishnaw bats for more stringent laws to curb vulgar content on social media

New Delhi: Concerned over social media becoming a space for "uncontrolled (freedom of) expression, including vulgar content", Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday batted for the need for a "societal consensus" on dealing with the menace along with stricter laws.

He was responding to a question raised by Meerut MP Arun Govil in Lok Sabha on the existing mechanism to check telecast of vulgar and sex related content through social media platforms and government's plans to tackle it through making it more stringent.

"We are living in the era of social media and OTT platforms. However, the democratic institutions and traditional forms of the press that once relied on editorial checks to ensure accountability and correctness of content, have seen these checks diminish over time," he said.

Insisting that "there should be societal consensus on it, along with stricter laws to address this challenge", he said social media has become a platform for freedom of press on one hand, but on the other hand, it has also "become a space for uncontrolled expression, which often includes vulgar content", due to the absence of such editorial oversight.

Vaishnaw pointed out that the government has notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 on 25 February, 2021, which provides for a Code of Ethics for publishers of online curated content (OTT platforms). The Code of Conduct require the publishers not to transmit any content which is prohibited by law for the time being in force and to undertake age based classification of content into five categories.

The Code also provides that the OTT Platform will put in place adequate safeguard for restricting age inappropriate content for children, he said.

In March this year, Vaishnaw said, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has taken action and blocked 18 OTT platforms for publishing obscene and vulgar content under the provisions of section 79(3)(b) of IT Act, 2000.

"So far as the content on intermediary platforms like YouTube, Facebook, etc. is concerned, IT Rules, 2021 cast obligation on such platforms to make reasonable efforts by itself and to cause the user of their computer resource to not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, etc. knowingly and intentionally any information which is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy, including bodily privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that is harmful to child," he added.