The existing internet governance structure in India is certainly inadequate and more regulatory challenges are around the corner, S. Krishnan, secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) said on Tuesday.
“The gaps between technological leaps that have been made and the existing regulatory frameworks are showing up. There are bound to be larger and larger regulatory challenges that are coming in,” the IT secretary said. He was speaking at the annual India Internet Governance Forum in New Delhi.
S. Krishnan added that the central government is doing its best in terms of internet regulation. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 was passed by the parliament earlier this year and its rules are expected to be notified soon. The Digital India Act, which is set to supersede the existing IT Act, is in the works and is expected to be brought out in the coming months.
“These [laws] are efforts of the government to attempt to cover the gap between where technology has taken us and where regulations need to be in order to derive best possible benefits,” said the IT secretary.
He also cautioned that the failure with regard to social media regulation should not be repeated when it comes to regulating artificial intelligence and other emerging technological developments. Recently, amid rising concerns around AI-generated deepfakes, MeitY announced that it will consider fresh regulations around spread of visual content that is altered by artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the same event, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state at MeitY, said that multistakeholderism will shape India’s internet policy and regulations in the future. Unlike in the past, when the future of technology was led by a monopoly of some companies and countries, the minister added that now technology will be shaped by a number of like-minded democracies with shared values.
