What happened (notification and compliance design)
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 under the Information Technology Act, 2000 on 25.02.2021. The Rules create an institutional mechanism for two categories of digital publishers: digital news and current affairs publishers on digital media, and publishers of online curated content—commonly called OTT platforms.
The Rules include an ethics framework and a structured complaint-handling pathway.
Code of Ethics under Part III: duties for OTT platforms and digital news publishers
IT Rules, 2021 use Part III to lay down a Code of Ethics for digital news publishers and OTT platforms.
The Code of Ethics requires OTT platforms to do the following:
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