The IT Rules (2021) [archive] may be amended to include and define “obscene content” on the internet, encompassing social media platforms, OTT platforms, and digital publishers, such as news outlets, according to a Hindu report.
If the Supreme Court accepts the government’s approach to defining “obscenity”, the amendment will severely impact how creators produce and distribute content online.
The IT Rules, 2021, refer to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Both The Hindu and The Indian Express have cited the government’s submission to the Supreme Court during an ongoing case, as presented by an advocate for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
How is the government defining ‘obscenity’?
According to the news reports, the government is making these changes to Part 3 of the IT Rules, titled “Code of Ethics and Procedure and Safeguards in Relation to Digital Media,” which covers online streaming platforms and digital publishers, including news outlets.
The term “obscene” could encompass a wide range of content and may prohibit material that includes defamatory allegations, half-truths, anti-national attitudes, or criticism of social, public, or moral life in the country, as per the documents seen by The Indian Express.
Similarly, the Hindu reports that the rules would include an overarching definition for “obscenity”, as it might instruct online platforms to avoid content that offends “good taste or decency”, presents “criminality as desirable”, shows “indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes”, or uses “visuals or words which reflect a slandering, ironical and snobbish attitude in the portrayal of certain ethnic, linguistic and regional groups”. The code contains 17 such restrictions, as per The Hindu.
According to the Indian Express report, the government may amend the IT Rules and regulate content to exclude the following:
- Offending good taste or decency
- Deriding any race, caste, colour, creed or nationality
- Attacks on religions or communities
- Anything obscene, defamatory, or containing deliberate falsehoods, suggestive innuendos or half-truths
- Incitement to crime
- Promotion of anti-national attitudes
- Criticism, maligning or slandering of individuals or specific social, public or moral groups
- Denigration of women, children or persons with disabilities
- Visuals or words reflecting a slandering, ironical or snobbish portrayal of ethnic, linguistic or regional groups
Unnamed government sources told The Hindu that the government will accept these amendments to the IT Rules only if the Supreme Court approves them after a public consultation.
Why the IT Rules Matter?
India has no law that mandates censorship for OTT platforms; however, the government’s Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, 2021, effectively fills this gap through…
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