The Digital Media Ethics Code for OTT platforms and digital news publishers keeps the citizen at the heart of the grievance redressal mechanism, according to Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

He added that the rules establish a soft touch co-regulatory architecture involving a Code of Ethics and a three-tier grievance redress framework for publishers on digital media.

Sahay was addressing a webinar on ‘Digital Media Ethics Code’ organized by MIB for the stakeholders in India’s north Indian States and federal government-administered regions (also referred as Union Territories or UTs) of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Himachal Pradesh. The webinar was part of a series of such interactions that the government is holding for regional stakeholders.

Sahay made a brief presentation explaining the various aspects of ‘Digital Media Ethics Code’ such as the Code of Ethics for the publishers; the three-tier grievance redress mechanism and the provisions related to furnishing and disclosure of information by the digital media publishers.

According to him, the new regulations were also an attempt to level the playing fields for all mediums of the media, including print, TV and digital.

He informed that the MIB has received information from over 1,800 publishers and added that several industry bodies and associations of publishers have sent communication regarding the constitution of self-regulating bodies under the rules.

Digital news publishers, journalists, OTT platforms, and academia from the institutes of mass communication actively participated in the virtual interactive meeting.

Several questions, doubts and issues highlighted by the participants were addressed during the webinar.