Self-regulatory body of digital publishers floated

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has formed a council that will act as a self-regulatory body for digital publishers, ensuring that they are compliant to the new IT rules and a grievance redressal framework for consumers.

In the light of the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, IAMAI is establishing the Digital Publishers Content Grievances Council (DPCGC) as the level-II self-regulatory body for publishers of online curated content (OCC) as required under Rule 12, with the intent to empower consumers to make informed viewing choices.

The DPCGC will have an online curated content publishers (OCCP) council, which will have publishers of OCC as members and a seven-member independent grievance redressal board (GRB).

This board will be chaired by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge and the members would comprise eminent persons from the media and entertainment industry, experts from various fields, including child rights, minority rights, and media law.

The GRB will oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence to the code of ethics by the OCCP Council members, provide guidance to entities on code of ethics, address grievances by consumers that have not been resolved by the publisher within 15 days and hear grievances or appeals filed by the complainant.

"The IAMAI and members of the DPCGC are deeply committed to protecting consumer rights and empowering consumers with the right tools to make informed decisions, as well as have their grievances addressed," said Subho Ray, president, Internet and Mobile Association of India.