New law: Customers inside an Apple store in Mumbai. A first draft of the new Internet law is to be published in June and is expected to carry proposals on a range of topics, including protection for users. — Bloomberg
NEW DELHI: India plans to overhaul rules governing use of the Internet, potentially altering business practices for Silicon Valley giants operating in the world’s biggest market.
A first draft of the new law will be published in June, which is expected to carry proposals on a range of topics with the goal of creating an environment where Big Tech can operate while being more accountable to the government and protecting users.
The existing two-decade-old law is ill-equipped to achieve India’s digital economy target of US$1 trillion (RM4.56 trillion) or 20% of gross domestic product over time, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Electronics and Information Technology State Minister, said at a briefing in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The changes will impact how Alphabet Inc’s Google to Meta Platforms Inc and Amazon.com Inc do business in a market the government estimates will expand to 1.3 billion Internet users by 2025 from the current 830 million.
India is the largest Internet community, and the world will follow what we do, Chandrasekhar said in an interview.
The government, which faces re-election next year, wants to implement the legislation by the end of 2023, Chandrasekhar said.
The new law will look to define what constitutes fair and non-discriminatory treatment of users. These could include principles on market concentration, so-called platform power and how to allow users more choice.
In recent months, the nation’s antitrust regulator has imposed large fines on Google, saying the firm wields too much power over the mobile market.
On the potential overlap, Chandrasekhar said the government will decide if enforcement of some of these should rest with competition law or the Digital India Act.
In a move designed to make Internet users identifiable and traceable, the new law may do away with so-called safe harbour provisions, the minister said.
This means intermediary firms, such as Twitter and Facebook, may face legal liability for the content shared by their users if they don’t provide user identification or traceability to the government when directed.
Last year, a draft telecommunications law contained similar licencing provisions to tackle Internet anonymity.
The new law will include a framework for revenue sharing between content generators and platforms, Chandrasekhar said.
A similar matter pertaining to news publishers is being investigated by the competition regulator. The draft law would explore differentiated rules for various kinds of platforms, such as eCommerce, social media and digital news.
It will tackle issues like age-gating, user rights and moderation of “fake news”, though Chandrasekhar said there is no plan to set up an independent digital regulator.
Another law on personal data protection is expected in the next legislative session. A national data governance policy and digital competition law are works in progress, and changes to the penal code are also imminent, marking a complete overhaul of India’s digital laws. — Bloomberg
