In its 254th report on Cyber Crime, Ramifications, Safety and Prevention, tabled in Parliament this month, the committee stated that whereas the Data Expertise Act, 2000 has enabled vital progress, enforcement loopholes and regulatory blind spots proceed to threaten public belief in India’s digital ecosystem.
The panel famous that present regulation doesn’t distinguish between user-generated and AI-generated content material. With deepfakes more and more used for monetary fraud, misinformation, and obscene materials, it really helpful devoted authorized provisions to control artificial media.
It additionally proposed necessary watermarks on all digital content material, together with pictures and movies, to assist set up authenticity. The Ministry of Electronics and Data Expertise (MeitY) has been requested to set uniform technical requirements, whereas CERT-In would monitor compliance and situation detection alerts.
The committee additional referred to as for a extra clear and user-friendly grievance redressal system. It recommended standardised grievance codecs, mounted timelines for acknowledgement and determination, and public disclosure of grievance statistics. Integrating these mechanisms with rising knowledge safety frameworks, it stated, would assist create a extra cohesive system masking privateness, content material moderation, and cybersecurity.
The report flagged the repeated failure of some social media intermediaries to take away illegal content material corresponding to morphed movies, pretend profiles, and hate materials. To deal with this, it proposed amendments to the IT Act to carry platforms legally accountable in the event that they fail to adjust to takedown orders inside prescribed timelines. Penalties might vary from fines to suspension of operations for persistent non-compliance, topic to due course of safeguards.With OTT platforms now surpassing cinema in attain, particularly amongst youthful audiences, the committee expressed concern that dangerous content material is bypassing the present self-classification regime. In contrast to movies, OTT content material doesn’t endure pre-certification underneath the Cinematograph Act.The panel really helpful establishing a Submit-Launch Evaluation Panel comprising little one improvement consultants, educators, authorized specialists, and social scientists to observe flagged content material. It additionally urged stricter age verification, stronger parental controls, and regional-language classification notices to higher defend semi-urban and rural viewers.
Recognising the challenges posed by blockchain, the metaverse, and generative AI, the committee referred to as for forward-looking and versatile regulatory tips. It stated secure harbour protections for intermediaries needs to be reviewed periodically to strike a stability between immunity and accountability. It additional really helpful common updates to enforcement mechanisms and penalty provisions underneath the IT Act to make sure they continue to be efficient deterrents.
The panel additionally proposed stricter knowledge safety and safety requirements for apps and app shops, together with common audits to stop the distribution of malicious functions. It recommended growing an indigenous app retailer to help Indian startups and scale back reliance on foreign-controlled digital marketplaces.
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