Srinagar- The Government of J&K has said that it was not “competent” to issue fresh or further regulatory guidelines regarding working of news portals in Jammu and Kashmir as the Centre has already framed detailed rules and framework regarding them.
The Secretary to Government and Information Department has disclosed it in a compliance report submitted before the J&K and Ladakh High Court in a contempt plea.
The Government said that keeping in view the Reorganization of the erstwhile J&K State into the two Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, the Central Acts have now become directly applicable to the UT of J&K.
“Since the Government of India have already framed detailed rules/frame work on the subject in the form of Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and since the subject is administered by the Government Of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and the J&K Information Department is not able/competent to issue any further regulatory guidelines on the subject,” the Secretary said.
In June 2022, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh had left it open for the government to take decision with regard to regulating and controlling the social media news channels, networks, pages and portals in Jammu and Kashmir.
Disposing of the Public Interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Forum through its General Secretary M. M. Shuja in 2021, the court had asked the government to consider representation by the NGO with regard to regulating and controlling the social media network and take appropriate action expeditiously. Later, the petitioner filed a contempt of court petition and subsequently the High Court issued notice to authorities.
The Secretary said after disposal of a Public Interest Litigation in 2022 (PIL) and after receiving the representation of the petitioner, the matter was again taken-up with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India.
As per the comments of the Union Ministry provided vide Office Memorandum dated 31 May this year, the Secretary said, the news portals are required to adhere to the rules of 2021 including the Code of Ethics and the three-tier grievance redressal mechanism provided therein.
Besides, the Secretary said that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, vide its communication dated 31 October 2023 have directed that for the purpose of tackling the menace of unlawful content in the online world, a suitable and effective mechanism is to be developed for removal of the unlawful content over the internet (social media platforms, websites, mobile apps, e-commerce websites, ISPs etc.) in a timely way.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
