[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY,

PART II SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 25th February, 2021

G.S.R………(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1),clauses (z)

and (zg) of sub-section (2) of section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000), and in supersession of the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines)
Rules, 2011, except as respect things done or omitted to be done before such
supersession, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:—

PART I
PRELIMINARY

1. Short Title and Commencement.—(1) These rules may be called the

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)
Rules, 2021.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.— (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires-

(a) ‘access control mechanism’ means any measure, including a technical

measure, through which access to online curated content may be restricted
based on verification of the identity or age of a user;

(b) ‘access services’ means any measure, including technical measure such as
closed captioning, subtitles and audio descriptions, through which the
accessibility of online curated content may be improved for persons with
disabilities;

(c) ‘Act’ means the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);

(d) ‘child’ means any person below the age of eighteen years;

(e) ‘committee’ means the Inter-Departmental Committee constituted under rule

14;

(f) ‘communication link’ means a connection between a hypertext or graphical

element, and one or more items in the same or different electronic document

Page 1 of 26
 wherein upon clicking on a hyperlinked item, the user is automatically
transferred to the other end of the hyperlink which can be another electronic
record or another website or application or graphical element;

(g) ‘content’ means the electronic record defined in clause (t) of section 2 of the
Act;

(h) ‘content descriptor’ means the issues and concerns which are relevant to the
classification of any online curated content, including discrimination,
depiction of illegal or harmful substances, imitable behaviour, nudity,
language, sex, violence, fear, threat, horror and other such concerns as
specified in the Schedule annexed to the rules;

(i) ‘digital media’ means digitized content that can be transmitted over the
internet or computer networks and includes content received, stored,
transmitted, edited or processed by-
(i) an intermediary; or
(ii) a publisher of news and current affairs content or a publisher of online
curated content;

(j) ‘grievance’ includes any complaint, whether regarding any content, any
duties of an intermediary or publisher under the Act, or other matters
pertaining to the computer resource of an intermediary or publisher, as the
case may be;

(k) ‘Grievance Officer’ means an officer appointed by the intermediary or the

publisher, as the case may be, for the purposes of these rules;

(l) ‘Ministry’ means, for the purpose of Part II of these rules unless specified
otherwise, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology,
Government of India, and for the purpose of Part III of these rules, the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India;

(m) ‘news and current affairs content’ includes newly received or noteworthy
content, including analysis, especially about recent events primarily of
socio-political, economic or cultural nature, made available over the internet
or computer networks, and any digital media shall be news and current
affairs content where the context, substance, purpose, import and meaning
of such information is in the nature of news and current affairs content.

(n) ‘newspaper’ means a periodical of loosely folded sheets usually printed on

newsprint and brought out daily or at least once in a week, containing
information on current events, public news or comments on public news;

Page 2 of 26
(o) ‘news aggregator’ means an entity who, performing a significant role in
determining the news and current affairs content being made available,
makes available to users a computer resource that enable such users to access
the news and current affairs content which is aggregated, curated and
presented by such entity.
(p) ‘on demand’ means a system where a user, subscriber or viewer is enabled
to access, at a time chosen by such user, any content in electronic form,
which is transmitted over a computer resource and is selected by the user;

(q) ‘online curated content’ means any curated catalogue of audio-visual

content, other than news and current affairs content, which is owned by,
licensed to or contracted to be transmitted by a publisher of online curated
content, and made available on demand, including but not limited through
subscription, over the internet or computer networks, and includes films,
audio visual programmes, documentaries, television programmes, serials,
podcasts and other such content;

(r) ‘person’ means a person as defined in sub-section (31) of section 2 of the

Income tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);

(s) ‘publisher’ means a publisher of news and current affairs content or a

publisher of online curated content;

(t) ‘publisher of news and current affairs content’ means an online paper, news
portal, news aggregator, news agency and such other entity called by
whatever name, which is functionally similar to publishers of news and
current affairs content but shall not include newspapers, replica e-papers of
the newspaper and any individual or user who is not transmitting content in
the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity;
(u) ‘publisher of online curated content’ means a publisher who, performing a
significant role in determining the online curated content being made
available, makes available to users a computer resource that enables such
users to access online curated content over the internet or computer
networks, and such other entity called by whatever name, which is
functionally similar to publishers of online curated content but does not
include any individual or user who is not transmitting online curated content
in the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity;

(v) ‘significant social media intermediary’ means a social media intermediary

having number of registered users in India above such threshold as notified
by the Central Government;

(w) ‘social media intermediary’ means an intermediary which primarily or solely

enables online interaction between two or more users and allows them to

Page 3 of 26
 create, upload, share, disseminate, modify or access information using its
services;

(x) ‘user’ means any person who accesses or avails any computer resource of an
intermediary or a publisher for the purpose of hosting, publishing, sharing,
transacting, viewing, displaying, downloading or uploading information and
includes other persons jointly participating in using such computer resource
and addressee and originator;

(y) ‘user account’ means the account registration of a user with an intermediary
or publisher and includes profiles, accounts, pages, handles and other similar
presences by means of which a user is able to access the services offered by
the intermediary or publisher.

(2) Words and expressions used and not defined in these rules but defined in the
Act and rules made thereunder shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the
Act and the said rules, as the case may be.

PART II
DUE DILIGENCE BY INTERMEDIARIES AND GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL
MECHANISM

3. (1) Due diligence by an intermediary: An intermediary, including social media

intermediary and significant social media intermediary, shall observe the following due
diligence while discharging its duties, namely:—
(a) the intermediary shall prominently publish on its website, mobile based
application or both, as the case may be, the rules and regulations, privacy
policy and user agreement for access or usage of its computer resource by
any person;

(b) the rules and regulations, privacy policy or user agreement of the
intermediary shall inform the user of its computer resource not to host,
display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any
information that,—

(i) belongs to another person and to which the user does not have any
right;
(ii) is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of
another’s privacy, including bodily privacy, insulting or harassing
on the basis of gender, libellous, racially or ethnically objectionable,
relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise
inconsistent with or contrary to the laws in force;
(iii) is harmful to child;

Page 4 of 26
 (iv) infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary
rights;
(v) violates any law for the time being in force;
(vi) deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message
or knowingly and intentionally communicates any information
which is patently false or misleading in nature but may reasonably
be perceived as a fact;
(vii) impersonates another person;
(viii) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of
India, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or
causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence or
prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting other nation;
(ix) contains software virus or any other computer code, file or program
designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any
computer resource;
(x) is patently false and untrue, and is written or published in any form,
with the intent to mislead or harass a person, entity or agency for
financial gain or to cause any injury to any person;

(c) an intermediary shall periodically inform its users, at least once every
year, that in case of non-compliance with rules and regulations, privacy
policy or user agreement for access or usage of the computer resource of
such intermediary, it has the right to terminate the access or usage rights
of the users to the computer resource immediately or remove non-
compliant information or both, as the case may be;

(d) an intermediary, on whose computer resource the information is stored,

hosted or published, upon receiving actual knowledge in the form of an
order by a court of competent jurisdiction or on being notified by the
Appropriate Government or its agency under clause (b) of sub-section (3)
of section 79 of the Act, shall not host, store or publish any unlawful
information, which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force
in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India; security
of the State; friendly relations with foreign States; public order; decency
or morality; in relation to contempt of court; defamation; incitement to
an offence relating to the above, or any information which is prohibited
under any law for the time being in force:

Provided that any notification made by the Appropriate

Government or its agency in relation to any information which is
prohibited under any law for the time being in force shall be issued by an
authorised agency, as may be notified by the Appropriate Government:

Provided further that if any such information is hosted, stored or

published, the intermediary shall remove or disable access to that
information, as early as possible, but in no case later than thirty-six hours

Page 5 of 26
 from the receipt of the court order or on being notified by the Appropriate
Government or its agency, as the case may be:

Provided also that the removal or disabling of access to any

information, data or communication link within the categories of
information specified under this clause, under clause (b) on a voluntary
basis, or on the basis of grievances received under sub-rule (2) by such
intermediary, shall not amount to a violation of the conditions of clauses
(a) or (b) of sub-section (2) of section 79 of the Act;

(e) the temporary or transient or intermediate storage of information

automatically by an intermediary in a computer resource within its control
as an intrinsic feature of that computer resource, involving no exercise of
any human, automated or algorithmic editorial control for onward
transmission or communication to another computer resource shall not
amount to hosting, storing or publishing any information referred to under
clause (d);

(f) the intermediary shall periodically, and at least once in a year, inform its
users of its rules and regulations, privacy policy or user agreement or any
change in the rules and regulations, privacy policy or user agreement, as
the case may be;

(g) where upon receiving actual knowledge under clause (d), on a voluntary
basis on violation of clause (b), or on the basis of grievances received
under sub-rule (2), any information has been removed or access to which
has been disabled, the intermediary shall, without vitiating the evidence
in any manner, preserve such information and associated records for one
hundred and eighty days for investigation purposes, or for such longer
period as may be required by the court or by Government agencies who
are lawfully authorised;

(h) where an intermediary collects information from a user for registration on

the computer resource, it shall retain his information for a period of one
hundred and eighty days after any cancellation or withdrawal of his
registration, as the case may be;

(i) the intermediary shall take all reasonable measures to secure its computer
resource and information contained therein following the reasonable
security practices and procedures as prescribed in the Information
Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive
Personal Information) Rules, 2011;

(j) the intermediary shall, as soon as possible, but not later than seventy two
hours of the receipt of an order, provide information under its control or
possession, or assistance to the Government agency which is lawfully

Page 6 of 26
 authorised for investigative or protective or cyber security activities, for
the purposes of verification of identity, or for the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution, of offences under any law for the time being
in force, or for cyber security incidents:

Provided that any such order shall be in writing stating clearly the
purpose of seeking information or assistance, as the case may be;

(k) the intermediary shall not knowingly deploy or install or modify technical
configuration of computer resource or become party to any act that may
change or has the potential to change the normal course of operation of
the computer resource than what it is supposed to perform thereby
circumventing any law for the time being in force:

Provided that the intermediary may develop, produce, distribute or

employ technological means for the purpose of performing the acts of
securing the computer resource and information contained therein;

(l) the intermediary shall report cyber security incidents and share related
information with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team in
accordance with the policies and procedures as mentioned in the
Information Technology (The Indian Computer Emergency Response
Team and Manner of Performing Functions and Duties) Rules, 2013.

(2) Grievance redressal mechanism of intermediary: (a) The intermediary

shall prominently publish on its website, mobile based application or both,
as the case may be, the name of the Grievance Officer and his contact
details as well as mechanism by which a user or a victim may make
complaint against violation of the provisions of this rule or any other
matters pertaining to the computer resources made available by it, and the
Grievance Officer shall -
(i) acknowledge the complaint within twenty four hours and dispose off
such complaint within a period of fifteen days from the date of its
receipt;
(ii) receive and acknowledge any order, notice or direction issued by the
Appropriate Government, any competent authority or a court of
competent jurisdiction.

(b) The intermediary shall, within twenty-four hours from the receipt of a
complaint made by an individual or any person on his behalf under this
sub-rule, in relation to any content which is prima facie in the nature of
any material which exposes the private area of such individual, shows
such individual in full or partial nudity or shows or depicts such individual
in any sexual act or conduct, or is in the nature of impersonation in an
electronic form, including artificially morphed images of such individual,

Page 7 of 26
 take all reasonable and practicable measures to remove or disable access
to such content which is hosted, stored, published or transmitted by it:

(c) The intermediary shall implement a mechanism for the receipt of

complaints under clause (b) of this sub-rule which may enable the
individual or person to provide details, as may be necessary, in relation to
such content or communication link.

4. Additional due diligence to be observed by significant social media

intermediary.—(1) In addition to the due diligence observed under rule 3, a significant
social media intermediary shall, within three months from the date of notification of the
threshold under clause (v) of sub-rule (1) of rule 2, observe the following additional due
diligence while discharging its duties, namely:—

(a) appoint a Chief Compliance Officer who shall be responsible for ensuring
compliance with the Act and rules made thereunder and shall be liable in
any proceedings relating to any relevant third-party information, data or
communication link made available or hosted by that intermediary where
he fails to ensure that such intermediary observes due diligence while
discharging its duties under the Act and rules made thereunder:

Provided that no liability under the Act or rules made thereunder

may be imposed on such significant social media intermediary without
being given an opportunity of being heard.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause “Chief Compliance

Officer” means a key managerial personnel or such other senior employee
of a significant social media intermediary who is resident in India;

(b) appoint a nodal contact person for 24x7 coordination with law
enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance to their orders or
requisitions made in accordance with the provisions of law or rules made
thereunder.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause “nodal contact person”

means the employee of a significant social media intermediary, other than
the Chief Compliance Officer, who is resident in India;

(c) appoint a Resident Grievance Officer, who shall, subject to clause (b), be
responsible for the functions referred to in sub-rule (2) of rule 3.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, “Resident Grievance

Officer” means the employee of a significant social media intermediary,
who is resident in India;

Page 8 of 26
 (d) publish periodic compliance report every month mentioning the details of
complaints received and action taken thereon, and the number of specific
communication links or parts of information that the intermediary has
removed or disabled access to in pursuance of any proactive monitoring
conducted by using automated tools or any other relevant information as
may be specified;

(2) A significant social media intermediary providing services primarily in

the nature of messaging shall enable the identification of the first originator of the
information on its computer resource as may be required by a judicial order passed by
a court of competent jurisdiction or an order passed under section 69 by the Competent
Authority as per the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for
interception, monitoring and decryption of information) Rules, 2009, which shall be
supported with a copy of such information in electronic form:

Provided that an order shall only be passed for the purposes of prevention,
detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of an offence related to the
sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with
foreign States, or public order, or of incitement to an offence relating to the above or in
relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material, punishable
with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years:

Provided further that no order shall be passed in cases where other less intrusive
means are effective in identifying the originator of the information:

Provided also that in complying with an order for identification of the first
originator, no significant social media intermediary shall be required to disclose the
contents of any electronic message, any other information related to the first originator,
or any information related to its other users:

Provided also that where the first originator of any information on the computer
resource of an intermediary is located outside the territory of India, the first originator
of that information within the territory of India shall be deemed to be the first originator
of the information for the purpose of this clause.

(3) A significant social media intermediary that provides any service with
respect to an information or transmits that information on behalf of another person on
its computer resource–

(a) for direct financial benefit in a manner that increases its visibility or
prominence, or targets the receiver of that information; or

(b) to which it owns a copyright, or has an exclusive license, or in relation

with which it has entered into any contract that directly or indirectly
restricts the publication or transmission of that information through any

Page 9 of 26
 means other than those provided through the computer resource of such
social media intermediary,

shall make that information clearly identifiable to its users as being advertised,
marketed, sponsored, owned, or exclusively controlled, as the case may be, or
shall make it identifiable as such in an appropriate manner.

(4) A significant social media intermediary shall endeavour to deploy

technology-based measures, including automated tools or other mechanisms to
proactively identify information that depicts any act or simulation in any form depicting
rape, child sexual abuse or conduct, whether explicit or implicit, or any information
which is exactly identical in content to information that has previously been removed
or access to which has been disabled on the computer resource of such intermediary
under clause (d) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3, and shall display a notice to any user
attempting to access such information stating that such information has been identified
by the intermediary under the categories referred to in this sub-rule:

Provided that the measures taken by the intermediary under this sub-rule shall
be proportionate having regard to the interests of free speech and expression, privacy
of users on the computer resource of such intermediary, including interests protected
through the appropriate use of technical measures:

Provided further that such intermediary shall implement mechanisms for

appropriate human oversight of measures deployed under this sub-rule, including a
periodic review of any automated tools deployed by such intermediary:

Provided also that the review of automated tools under this sub-rule shall
evaluate the automated tools having regard to the accuracy and fairness of such tools,
the propensity of bias and discrimination in such tools and the impact on privacy and
security of such tools.

(5) The significant social media intermediary shall have a physical contact
address in India published on its website, mobile based application or both, as the case
may be, for the purposes of receiving the communication addressed to it.

(6) The significant social media intermediary shall implement an appropriate

mechanism for the receipt of complaints under sub-rule (2) of rule 3 and grievances in
relation to the violation of provisions under this rule, which shall enable the complainant
to track the status of such complaint or grievance by providing a unique ticket number
for every complaint or grievance received by such intermediary:

Provided that such intermediary shall, to the extent reasonable, provide such
complainant with reasons for any action taken or not taken by such intermediary in
pursuance of the complaint or grievance received by it.

Page 10 of 26
 (7) The significant social media intermediary shall enable users who register
for their services from India, or use their services in India, to voluntarily verify their
accounts by using any appropriate mechanism, including the active Indian mobile
number of such users, and where any user voluntarily verifies their account, such user
shall be provided with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification, which shall be
visible to all users of the service:

Provided that the information received for the purpose of verification under this
sub-rule shall not be used for any other purpose, unless the user expressly consents to
such use.

(8) Where a significant social media intermediary removes or disables access

to any information, data or communication link, under clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of rule
3 on its own accord, such intermediary shall,—
(a) ensure that prior to the time at which such intermediary removes or
disables access, it has provided the user who has created, uploaded,
shared, disseminated, or modified information, data or communication
link using its services with a notification explaining the action being taken
and the grounds or reasons for such action;
(b) ensure that the user who has created, uploaded, shared, disseminated, or
modified information using its services is provided with an adequate and
reasonable opportunity to dispute the action being taken by such
intermediary and request for the reinstatement of access to such
information, data or communication link, which may be decided within a
reasonable time;
(c) ensure that the Resident Grievance Officer of such intermediary maintains
appropriate oversight over the mechanism for resolution of any disputes
raised by the user under clause (b).

(9) The Ministry may call for such additional information from any
significant social media intermediary as it may consider necessary for the
purposes of this part.

5. Additional due diligence to be observed by an intermediary in relation to

news and current affairs content.—In addition to adherence to rules 3 and 4, as may
be applicable, an intermediary shall publish, on an appropriate place on its website,
mobile based application or both, as the case may be, a clear and concise statement
informing publishers of news and current affairs content that in addition to the common
terms of service for all users, such publishers shall furnish the details of their user
accounts on the services of such intermediary to the Ministry as may be required under
rule 18:

Page 11 of 26
 Provided that an intermediary may provide such publishers who have provided
information under rule 18 with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification as being
publishers, which shall be visible to all users of the service.

Explanation. —This rule relates only to news and current affairs content and
shall be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

6. Notification of other intermediary.—(1)The Ministry may by order, for

reasons to be recorded in writing, require any intermediary, which is not a significant
social media intermediary, to comply with all or any of the obligations mentioned under
rule 4, if the services of that intermediary permits the publication or transmission of
information in a manner that may create a material risk of harm to the sovereignty and
integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public
order.

(2) The assessment of material risk of harm referred to in sub-rule (1) shall
be made having regard to the nature of services of such intermediary, and if those
services permit,—
(a) interaction between users, notwithstanding, whether it is the primary purpose
of that intermediary; and
(b) the publication or transmission of information to a significant number of
other users as would be likely to result in widespread dissemination of such
information.

(3) An order under this rule may be issued in relation to a specific part of the
computer resources of any website, mobile based application or both, as the case may
be, if such specific part is in the nature of an intermediary:

Provided that where such order is issued, an entity may be required to comply
with all or any of the obligations mentions under rule 4, in relation to the specific part
of its computer resource which is in the nature of an intermediary.

7. Non-observance of Rules.—Where an intermediary fails to observe these rules,

the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 79 of the Act shall not be applicable to such
intermediary and the intermediary shall be liable for punishment under any law for the
time being in force including the provisions of the Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Page 12 of 26
 PART III

CODE OF ETHICS AND PROCEDURE AND SAFEGUARDS IN RELATION

TO DIGITAL MEDIA

8. Application of this Part.—(1) The rules made under this Part shall apply to the
following persons or entities, namely:—
(a) publishers of news and current affairs content;
(b) publishers of online curated content; and
shall be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of
India, which shall be referred to in this Part as the “Ministry”:

Provided that the rules made under this Part shall apply to intermediaries for the
purposes of rules 15 and 16;

(2) the rules made under this Part shall apply to the publishers, where,—
(a) such publisher operates in the territory of India; or
(b) such publisher conducts systematic business activity of making its
content available in India.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this rule,—

(a) a publisher shall be deemed to operate in the territory of India where
such publisher has a physical presence in the territory of India;
(b) “systematic activity” shall mean any structured or organised activity
that involves an element of planning, method, continuity or persistence.

(3) The rules made under this Part shall be in addition to and not in derogation
of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force and any remedies available
under such laws including the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for
Blocking of Access of Information by the Public) Rules, 2009.

9. Observance and adherence to the Code.—(1) A publisher referred to in rule 8

shall observe and adhere to the Code of Ethics laid down in the Appendix annexed to
these rules.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, a publisher referred to

in rule 8 who contravenes any law for the time being in force, shall also be liable for
consequential action as provided in such law which has so been contravened.

(3) For ensuring observance and adherence to the Code of Ethics by

publishers operating in the territory of India, and for addressing the grievances made in
relation to publishers under this Part, there shall be a three-tier structure as under—
(a) Level I - Self-regulation by the publishers;
(b) Level II – Self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the publishers;
(c) Level III - Oversight mechanism by the Central Government.

Page 13 of 26
 CHAPTER I
GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM
10. Furnishing and processing of grievance.— (1) Any person having a
grievance regarding content published by a publisher in relation to the Code of Ethics
may furnish his grievance on the grievance mechanism established by the publisher
under rule 11.
(2) The publisher shall generate and issue an acknowledgement of the
grievance for the benefit of the complainant within twenty-four hours of it being
furnished for information and record.
(3) The manner of grievance redressal shall have the following arrangement–
(a) the publisher shall address the grievance and inform the complainant of
its decision within fifteen days of the registration of the grievance;
(b) if the decision of the publisher is not communicated to the complainant
within the stipulated fifteen days, the grievance shall be escalated to the
level of the self–regulating body of which such publisher is a member.
(c) where the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the publisher,
it may prefer to appeal to the self-regulating body of which such publisher
is a member within fifteen days of receiving such a decision.
(d) the self-regulating body shall address the grievance referred to in clauses
(b) and (c), and convey its decision in the form of a guidance or advisory
to the publisher, and inform the complainant of such decision within a
period of fifteen days..
(e) where the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-
regulating body, it may, within fifteen days of such decision, prefer an
appeal to the Oversight Mechanism referred to in rule 13 for resolution.

Page 14 of 26
 CHAPTER II

SELF REGULATING MECHANISM - LEVEL I

11. Self-Regulating mechanism at Level I.— (1) The publisher shall be the Level
I of the self-regulating mechanism.
(2) A publisher shall —
(a) establish a grievance redressal mechanism and shall appoint a
Grievance Officer based in India, who shall be responsible for the
redressal of grievances received by him;
(b) display the contact details related to its grievance redressal
mechanism and the name and contact details of its Grievance Officer
at an appropriate place on its website or interface, as the case may be;
(c) ensure that the Grievance Officer takes a decision on every grievance
received by it within fifteen days, and communicate the same to the
complainant within the specified time:
(d) be a member of a self-regulating body as referred to in rule 12 and
abide by its terms and conditions.
(3) The Grievance Officer shall,—
(a) be the contact point for receiving any grievance relating to Code of
Ethics;
(b) act as the nodal point for interaction with the complainant, the self-
regulating body and the Ministry.

(4) Online curated content shall be classified by the publisher of such content
into the categories referred to in the Schedule, having regard to the context, theme, tone,
impact and target audience of such content, with the relevant rating for such categories
based on an assessment of the relevant content descriptors in the manner specified in
the said Schedule.

(5) Every publisher of online curated content shall display the rating of any
online curated content and an explanation of the relevant content descriptors,
prominently to its users at an appropriate place, as the case may be, in a manner that
ensures that such users are aware of this information before accessing such content.

Page 15 of 26
 CHAPTER III
SELF REGULATING MECHANISM – LEVEL II
12. Self-regulating body.— (1) There may be one or more self-regulatory
bodies of publishers, being an independent body constituted by publishers or their
associations.
(2) The self-regulatory body referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be headed by a
retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court, or an independent eminent person
from the field of media, broadcasting, entertainment, child rights, human rights or such
other relevant field, and have other members, not exceeding six, being experts from the
field of media, broadcasting, entertainment, child rights, human rights and such other
relevant fields.
(3) The self-regulating body shall, after its constitution in accordance with
sub-rule (2), register itself with the Ministry within a period of thirty days from the date
of notification of these rules, and where a self-regulating body is constituted after such
period, within thirty days from the date of its constitution:
Provided that before grant of registration to the self-regulating body, the Ministry
shall satisfy itself that the self-regulating body has been constituted in accordance with
sub-rule (2) and has agreed to perform the functions laid down in sub-rules (4) and (5).
(4) The self-regulating body shall perform the following functions,
namely:—
(a) oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence by the publisher to the
Code of Ethics;
(b) provide guidance to publishers on various aspects of the Code of Ethics;
(c) address grievances which have not been resolved by publishers within the
specified period of fifteen days;
(d) hear appeals filed by the complainant against the decision of publishers;
(e) issue such guidance or advisories to such publishers as specified in sub-rule
(5) for ensuring compliance to the Code of Ethics.

(5) The self-regulating body while disposing a grievance or an appeal

referred to it in sub-rule (4) may issue following guidance or advisories to the publishers
as under, namely:—
(a) warning, censuring, admonishing or reprimanding the publisher; or
(b) requiring an apology by the publisher; or
(c) requiring the publisher to include a warning card or a disclaimer; or
(d) in case of online curated content, direct the publisher to,—
(i) reclassify ratings of relevant content;
(ii) make appropriate modification in the content descriptor, age
classification and access control measures;
(iii) edit synopsis of relevant content; or

Page 16 of 26
 (e) in case of any content where it is satisfied that there is a need for taking
action to delete or modify the content for preventing incitement to the
commission of a cognizable offence relating to public order, or in relation
to the reasons enumerated in sub-section (1) of section 69A of the Act, refer
such content to the Ministry for consideration by the Oversight Mechanism
referred to in rule 13 for appropriate action.

(6) Where the self-regulating body is of the opinion that there is no violation
of the Code of Ethics, it shall convey such decision to the complainant and such entity.
(7) Where a publisher fails to comply with the guidance or advisories of the
self-regulating body within the time specified in such guidance or advisory, the self-
regulating body shall refer the matter to the Oversight Mechanism referred to in rule 13
within fifteen days of expiry of the specified date.

CHAPTER IV
OVERSIGHT MECHANISM - LEVEL III

13. Oversight mechanism.— (1) The Ministry shall co-ordinate and facilitate
the adherence to the Code of Ethics by publishers and self regulating bodies, develop
an Oversight Mechanism, and perform the following functions, namely:—
(a) publish a charter for self regulating bodies, including Codes of Practices for
such bodies;
(b) establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing grievances;
(c) refer to the Inter-Departmental Committee grievances arising out of the
decision of the self-regulating body under rule 12, or where no decision has
been taken by the self-regulating body within the specified time period, or
such other complaints or references relating to violation of Code of Ethics as
it may consider necessary;
(d) issue appropriate guidance and advisories to publishers;
(e) issue orders and directions to the publishers for maintenance and adherence
to the Code of Ethics.

(2) The Ministry shall appoint an officer of the Ministry not below the rank
of a Joint Secretary to the Government of India, as the “Authorised Officer”, for the
purposes of issuing directions under rules 15 or 16, as the case may be.

14. Inter-Departmental Committee.— (1) The Ministry shall constitute an

Inter-Departmental Committee, called the Committee, consisting of representatives
from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of
Defence, and such other Ministries and Organisations, including domain experts, that it
may decide to include in the Committee:

Page 17 of 26
 Provided that the Authorised Officer designated under sub-rule (2) of rule 13
shall be the Chairperson of such Committee.

(2) The Committee shall meet periodically and hear the following complaints
regarding violation or contravention of the Code of Ethics by the entities referred to in
Rule 8–

(a) arising out of the grievances in respect of the decisions taken at the Level
I or II, including the cases where no such decision is taken within the time
specified in the grievance redressal mechanism; or
(b) referred to it by the Ministry.

(3) Any complaint referred to the Committee, whether arising out of the
grievances or referred to it by the Ministry, shall be in writing and may be sent either
by mail or fax or by e-mail signed with electronic signature of the authorised
representative of the entity referring the grievance, and the Committee shall ensure that
such reference is assigned a number which is recorded along with the date and time of
its receipt.

(4) The Ministry shall make all reasonable efforts to identify the entity
referred to in Rule 8 which has created, published or hosted the content or part thereof,
and where it is able to identify such entity, it shall issue a duly signed notice to such
entity to appear and submit their reply and clarifications, if any, before the Committee.

(5) In the hearing, the Committee shall examine complaints or grievances,

and may either accept or allow such complaint or grievance, and make the following
recommendations to the Ministry, namely:—

(a) warning, censuring, admonishing or reprimanding such entity; or

(b) requiring an apology by such entity; or
(c) requiring such entity to include a warning card or a disclaimer; or
(d) in case of online curated content, direct a publisher to—
(i) reclassify ratings of relevant content; or
(ii) edit synopsis of relevant content; or
(iii) make appropriate modification in the content descriptor, age
classification and parental or access control;
(e) delete or modify content for preventing incitement to the commission of a
cognisable offence relating to public order;
(f) in case of content where the Committee is satisfied that there is a need for
taking action in relation to the reasons enumerated in sub-section (1) of
section 69A of the Act, it may recommend such action.

(6) The Ministry may, after taking into consideration the recommendations
of the Committee, issue appropriate orders and directions for compliance by the
publisher:

Page 18 of 26
 Provided that no such order shall be issued without the approval of the
Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India (hereinafter
referred to as the “Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting”).

15. Procedure for issuing of direction.— (1) In respect of recommendations

referred to in clauses (e) and (f) of sub-rule (5) of rule 14, the Authorised Officer shall
place the matter for consideration before the Secretary, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting for taking appropriate decision.

(2) The Authorised Officer shall, on approval of the decision by the

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, direct the publisher, any agency
of the Government or any intermediary, as the case may be to delete or modify or block
the relevant content and information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted
in their computer resource for public access within the time limit specified in the
direction:

Provided that in case the recommendation of the Authorised Officer is not

approved by the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Authorised
Officer shall convey the same to the Committee.

(3) A direction under this rule may be issued only in respect of a specific
piece of content or an enumerated list of content, as the case may be, and shall not
require any entity to cease its operations.

16. Blocking of information in case of emergency.— (1) Notwithstanding

anything contained in rules 14 and 15, the Authorised Officer, in any case of emergency
nature, for which no delay is acceptable, shall examine the relevant content and consider
whether it is within the grounds referred to in sub-section (1) of section 69A of the Act
and it is necessary or expedient and justifiable to block such information or part thereof
and submit a specific recommendation in writing to the Secretary, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting.

(2) In case of emergency nature, the Secretary, Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting may, if he is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient and justifiable for
blocking for public access of any information or part thereof through any computer
resource and after recording reasons in writing, as an interim measure issue such
directions as he may consider necessary to such identified or identifiable persons,
publishers or intermediary in control of such computer resource hosting such
information or part thereof without giving him an opportunity of hearing.

(3) The Authorised Officer, at the earliest but not later than forty-eight hours
of issue of direction under sub-rule (2), shall bring the request before the Committee for
its consideration and recommendation.

(4) On receipt of recommendations of the Committee under sub-rule (3), the

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, shall pass the final order as regard

Page 19 of 26
to approval of such request and in case the request for blocking is not approved by the
Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in his final order, the interim
direction issued under sub-rule (2) shall be revoked and the person, publisher or
intermediary in control of such information shall be accordingly, directed to unblock
the information for public access.

17. Review of directions issued.— (1) The Authorised Officer shall maintain
complete records of the proceedings of the Committee, including any complaints
referred to the Committee, and shall also maintain records of recommendations made
by the Committee and any directions issued by the Authorised Officer.

(2) The Review Committee shall meet at least once in every two months and
record its findings whether the directions of blocking of content or information issued
under these rules are in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 69A
of the Act and if it is of the opinion that the directions are not in accordance with the
said provisions, it may set aside the directions and issue order for unblocking of such
content or information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in a computer
resource.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this rule, “Review Committee” shall mean the Review
Committee constituted under rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951.

CHAPTER V

FURNISHING OF INFORMATION

18. Furnishing of information.— (1) A publisher of news and current affairs

content and a publisher of online curated content operating in the territory of India, shall
inform the Ministry about the details of its entity by furnishing information along with
such documents as may be specified, for the purpose of enabling communication and
coordination.

(2) The information referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be furnished within a

period of thirty days of the publication of these rules, and where such publisher begins
operation in the territory of India or comes into existence after commencement of these
rules, within thirty days from the date of start of its operations in the territory of India
or its coming into existence, as the case may be.

(3) The publisher of news and current affairs content and the publisher of online
curated content shall publish periodic compliance report every month mentioning the
details of grievances received and action taken thereon.

(4) The Ministry may call for such additional information from the publisher
as it may consider necessary for the implementation of this Rule.

Page 20 of 26
 CHAPTER VI

MISCELLANEOUS

19. Disclosure of Information.— (1) A publisher and a self-regulating

body, shall make true and full disclosure of all grievances received by it, the manner in
which the grievances are disposed of, the action taken on the grievance, the reply sent
to the complainant, the orders or directions received by it under these rules and action
taken on such orders or directions.

(2) The information referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be displayed publicly and
updated monthly.

(3) Subject to any law for the time being in force, the publisher shall preserve
records of content transmitted by it for a minimum period of sixty days and make it
available to the self-regulating body or the Central Government, or any other
Government agency, as may be requisitioned by them for implementation of these rules.

Page 21 of 26
 APPENDIX

CODE OF ETHICS

I News and current affairs:

(i) Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India under the Press
Council Act, 1978;
(ii) Programme Code under section 5 of the Cable Television Networks
Regulation) Act, 1995;
(iii) Content which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force shall
not be published or transmitted.

II Online curated content:

(A) General Principles:

(a) A publisher shall not transmit or publish or exhibit any content which is
prohibited under any law for the time being in force or has been prohibited by
any court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) A publisher shall take into consideration the following factors, when deciding
to feature or transmit or publish or exhibit any content, after duly considering
the implications of any content as falling under the following categories, and
shall exercise due caution and discretion in relation to the same, namely:—

(i) content which affects the sovereignty and integrity of India;

(ii) content which threatens, endangers or jeopardises the security of the
State;
(iii) content which is detrimental to India’s friendly relations with foreign
countries;
(iv) content which is likely to incite violence or disturb the maintenance of
public order.

(c) A publisher shall take into consideration India’s multi-racial and multi-
religious context and exercise due caution and discretion when featuring the
activities, beliefs, practices, or views of any racial or religious group.

(B) Content Classification:

(i) All content transmitted or published or exhibited by a publisher of online curated

content shall be classified, based on the nature and type of content, into the following
rating categories, namely:—
(a) Online curated content which is suitable for children as well as people of all
ages shall be classified as “U” rating;

Page 22 of 26
 (b) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 7 years and above,
and can be viewed by a person under the age of 7 years with parental
guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 7+” rating;
(c) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 13 years and above,
and can be viewed by a person under the age of 13 years with parental
guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 13+” rating;
(d) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 16 years and above,
and can be viewed by a person under the age of 16 years with parental
guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 16+” rating; and
(e) Online curated content which is restricted to adults shall be classified as “A”
rating.

(ii) The Content may be classified on the basis of.— i) Themes and messages; ii)
Violence; iii) Nudity; iv) Sex; v) Language; vi) Drug and substance abuse; and (vii)
Horror as described in the Schedule, as may be modified from time to time by the
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
(C) Display of Classification:

(a) The publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the
classification rating specific to each content or programme together with a
content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content, and
advising on viewer discretion (if applicable) at the beginning of every
programme enabling the user to make an informed decision, prior to watching
the programme.
(b) The publisher of online curated content making available content that is
classified as U/A 13+ or higher shall ensure that access control mechanisms,
including parental locks, are made available for such content.
(c) A publisher of online curated content which makes available content or
programme that is classified as “A” shall implement a reliable age
verification mechanism for viewership of such content.
(d) A publisher of online curated content must strive to include classification
rating and consumer advice for their programmes in any print, televised or
online promotional or publicity material and prominently display the
classification rating specific to each such content.

(D) Restriction of access to certain curated content by a child:

Every publisher of online curated content providing access to online curated content
which has an “A” rating shall take all efforts to restrict access to such content by a child
through the implementation of appropriate access control measures.
(E) Measures to improve accessibility of online curated content by persons with
disabilities:

Page 23 of 26
Every publisher of online curated content shall, to the extent feasible, take reasonable
efforts to improve the accessibility of online curated content transmitted by it to persons
with disabilities through the implementation of appropriate access services.
Schedule
Classification of any curated content shall be guided by the following sets of
guidelines, namely:—
PART I
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR CLASSIFICATION OF FILMS AND OTHER
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES, INCLUDING WEB BASED SERIALS
There are general factors that may influence a classification decision at any level and in
connection with any issue and the following factors are elucidated which may be read
along with Part II of the Guidelines -
(a) Context:
Curated content may be considered in the light of the period depicted in such
content and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to which
such content relates. Therefore, the context in which an issue is presented within
a film or video may be given consideration. Factors such as the setting of a work
(historical, fantasy, realistic, contemporary etc.), the manner of presentation of the
content, the apparent intention of the content, the original production date of the
content, and any special merits of the work may influence the classification
decision.
(b) Theme:
Classification decisions may take into the theme of any content but will depend
significantly on the treatment of that theme, especially the sensitivity of its
presentation. The most challenging themes (for example, drug misuse, violence,
pedophilia, sex, racial or communal hatred or violence etc.) are unlikely to be
appropriate at the junior levels of classification.
(c) Tone and impact:
Curated content may be judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall
impact. The tone of content can be an important factor in deciding the influence it
may have on various groups of people. Thus, films/serials that have a stronger
depiction of violence may receive a higher classification.
(d) Target audience:
The classification of any content may also depend upon the target audience of the
work and the impact of the work on such audience.

Page 24 of 26
 PART II
ISSUE RELATED GUIDELINES
This part of the guidelines comprises the issues and concerns that apply in varying
degrees to all categories of classification and elaborates the general approach that may
be taken in this regard to the same. These concerns are listed in alphabetical order, and
are to be read with the four General Guidelines listed in Part I —
(a) Discrimination:
The categorical classification of content shall take into account the impact of a
film on matters such as caste, race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality that
may arise in a wide range of works, and the classification decision will take
account of the strength or impact of their inclusion.

(b) Psychotropic substances, liquor, smoking and tobacco:

Films or serials, etc. that as a whole portray misuse of psychotropic substances,
liquor, smoking and tobacco would qualify for a higher category of classification.

(c) Imitable behaviour:

(1) Classification decisions may take into account any portrayal of criminal and
violent behaviour with weapons.
(2) Portrayal of potentially dangerous behaviour that are likely to incite the
commission of any offence (including suicide, and infliction of self-harm)
and that children and young people may potentially copy, shall receive a
higher classification.
(3) Films or serials with song and dance scenes comprising lyrics and gestures
that have sexual innuendos would receive a higher classification.

(d) Language:
(1) Language is of particular importance, given the vast linguistic diversity of
our country. The use of language, dialect, idioms and euphemisms vary from
region to region and are culture-specific. This factor has to be taken into
account during the process of classification of a work in a particular category.
(2) Language that people may find offensive includes the use of expletives. The
extent of offence may vary according to age, gender, race, background,
beliefs and expectations of the target audience from the work as well as the
context, region and language in which the word, expression or gesture is
used.
(3) It is not possible to set out a comprehensive list of words, expressions or
gestures that are acceptable at each category in every Indian language. The
advice at different classification levels, therefore, provides general guidance
to consider while judging the level of classification for content, based on this
guideline.

Page 25 of 26
(e) Nudity:
(1) No content that is prohibited by law at the time being in force can be published
or transmitted.
(2) Nudity with a sexual context will receive a higher classification of “A”.

(f) Sex:
No content that is prohibited by law at the time being in force can be published
or transmitted. The classification of content in various ratings from U/A 16+ to
“A” shall depend upon the portrayal of non-explicit (implicit) to explicit
depiction of sexual behaviour.

(g) Violence:
Classification decisions shall take account of the degree and nature of violence
in a work.

[F. No. 16(4)/2020-CLES]

(Dr. Rajendra Kumar)

(Additional Secretary)

Page 26 of 26