New Delhi: Days after the Centre announced new guidelines for digital media, the Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Thursday held an interaction with the representatives of Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) in the backdrop of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
According to an official announcement made by the government, Javadekar spoke with representatives of various media houses including ABP Network, India Today, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Times of India and others via video conferencing.
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The Union Minister informed media representatives that the new rules have placed "certain responsibilities on digital news publishers". These include adherence to Code of Ethics such as the norms of journalistic conduct framed by the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Network Act.
"The digital news publishers would also be required to furnish some basic information to the Ministry in a simple form which is being finalised and periodically they would be required to place in public domain the grievance redressal undertaken by them," Javadekar said.
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In the official press release, government said that the participants welcomed the new guidelines but "felt that they should be treated differently than those news publishers who are only on the digital platform".
The Union government, last month, came up with new stringent guidelines for digital media platforms along with code of ethics for over-the-top (OTT) platforms and social media. The government also said that digital publishers need to be self-governed on the lines of print media which has to follow the press council code.