We have already started a series of discussions under the “Shape of Things to Come-New Data Protection Act of India” in which so far we have released 11 articles. At the same time a discussion has ensued on the part of the law which could replace the ITA 2000. We may need to parallelly work on another series of articles just to counter the motivated media reports that have started appearing.
Naavi.org has been a watch dog on the attempts of vested interests who try to twist the arm of the Government to get laws made for themselves. We see a scent of this attempt in the withdrawal of PDPB 2019 after the JPC report and an attempt to also scrap and replace the ITA 2000.
While we continue to place positive suggestions for the Government to consider if they are trying to create better laws in good faith. But we will also call out any attempt to create “Criminal Friendly laws” in the guise of modernization of law.
We will therefore parallelly start releasing our views on the squealing that has started about the “Digital India Act”. When articles start appearing in unison in Quint, Media Nama, Economic Times, INC42 etc and speak in common voice on what needs to be done, it is clear that the vested anti India gang is at work.
Since yesterday, we have spotted the following articles.
- Digital India Act to police social media and OTT Platforms- Economic Times
- Digital India Act will monitor Social Media, Meta Verse, OTT Platforms: Report…inc42.com
- Big Tech, OTT platforms stare at uncertainty as center plans to push through Digital India Act this winter session… Economic Times
It is clear that the first wave of attack is coming from the Social Media and OTT who have been at loggerhead with the Ministry since a long time.
In December 2018, a “Draft Intermediary Guidelines 2018″ was issued for public comments. It was vehemently opposed by the vested interests and the Government chickened out and did not take follow up action.
Then Mr Ravishankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar mustered courage jointly holding each other’s hand and came up with the 25th February 2021 guideline. This was a courageous attempt by the usually hesitant Government to introduce a “Digital Media Ethics Code” It gave 6 months time for implementation .
But the vested interests immediately worked probably at the PMO level to strip both the ministers of their ministry berths and Ravishankar Prasad was banished to the oblivion for having taken on Twitter.
Even the JPC head Mrs Meenakshi Lekhi who appeared to be not pliable was eased out of the JPC with an offer of a ministry. Following Mrs Lekhi’s exit, the JPC recommendations were changed to such an extent that its root purpose was forgotten.
Today when the Ministry quotes “81 Amendments suggested by JPC” as one of the reasons for its decision to scrap the PDPB 2019, it is clear that the post Meenakshi Lekhi work at JPC was only to spoil the possibility of PDPB 2019 being passed.
We should not forget that the new JPC brought in from no where a recommendation on Crypto Currencies into the PDPB recommendations. This indicated the forces which were at work in getting the law modified to meet the needs of the “Digitally Corrupt”.
It is stated that the Digital India Act will be used to legislate on Meta Verse and Block Chain as per the reports and also address the Crypto Scams.
The intentions are therefore clear enough for those of us who have been closely watching the politics of Crypto currencies. We can understand that “Anti India interests” are at work again to get a law of their choice and all patriotic followers of Cyber Law development in India need to keep a watch on the developments from Delhi.
Who are the members of this Special Committee?
From the articles that have appeared, it appears from the quotes of as usual a “Ghost informant” that Meity has formed a “Special Committee” which is working on the draft.
We the Indians want to know the composition of this committee, who are the members, what are their antecedents and more specifically will they all give a declaration that they donot hold any “Crypto Currency” in their name or in their relatives names. If they have holdings of Crypto Currencies, they need to give a declaration of their holdings since they are going to suggest legislation on Crypto currencies.
Will the Government come out openly about its agenda on why JPC was scrapped and ITA 2000 is being amended wholesale? .
Recently the Minister of Urban Development made an announcement of providing shelter to Rohingyas and the MHA had to step in to correct it. Similarly we expect that the MeitY may come up with a “Criminal Friendly” and “Corruption Friendly” legislation and it will have to be corrected by MHA once again.
If things happen the way we donot want it to happen, Naavi.org will once again stand up against the injustice and fight for the people of India.
We hope things will turn out better and our fears are unfounded. We proceed with this premise and continue our discussion on what amendments should be considered in the new DIA.
(This is a personal fight of Naavi and does not the views expressed here are personal and does not reflect the views of any organization. At present however, we place the trust in Narendra Modi Government to do what is good for the Indian Society though not all arms of the Government may be in sync with this Pro public stance)
Naavi
