Proposed Digital India Act will have huge section on online safety, trust: MoS IT

The proposed Digital India Act will have a huge section on online safety and trust to ensure that people approach internet without any fear and mistrust, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday. He also said that Digital India Act (DIA) will address any kind of asymmetric relationship between big tech companies and startups to check distortion of things that startups want to do on the internet.

"Online safety and trust is going to be a huge section in the DIA," Chandrasekhar said. The Minister of State for Electronics and IT was speaking at the Digital India Dialogues held in Mumbai on the Principles of the Digital India Act.

According to him, India is soon going to have 1.3 billion people accessing the internet and these Digital Naagriks should approach the internet without any fear and mistrust, especially as many government services also move to the internet.

"A safe and trusted internet is a win-win for all stakeholders. Weaponisation of misinformation and disinformation is also a major concern that needs to be addressed, especially with the added catalyst of AI-driven deep fakes," he said.

The minister said DIA will allow sectoral regulators such as RBI and SEBI, and other ministries to create additional safeguards. On the issue of regulating emerging technologies, Chandrasekhar said AI will be regulated through the prism of user harm. The objective is to ensure that emerging technologies should not cause any harm to Digital Naagriks, he added.

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