Manipur DM issues notice under new digital rules | Read details

Manipur, March 3: The first notice to be served under the new rules for digital media framed by the Centre last week issued by a district magistrate (DM) in Manipur was withdrawn on Tuesday after the information & broadcasting (I&B) ministry said that states did not have the power to take such steps.

Here is all you need to know about the notice by Manipur DM and the rules for Digital Media:

  • The notice was issued over a talk show on current affairs and news hosted on a social media platform under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified on February 25.
  • It was issued on March 1 and served on Tuesday morning to the publisher/intermediary of Khanasi Neinasi, which means Let’s Talk in Manipuri.
  • This was probably the first such action against digital news anywhere in the country four days after a gazette notification on the new digital media rules were published.
  • I&B minister Prakash Javadekar said the rules are very clear that a DM does not have the power to issue such a notice.
  • He added the mechanism is mostly self-regulatory and only in very serious cases can they complain to the ministry.
  • The show is hosted on the Facebook page of Kishorechandra Wangkhem, an Imphal-based journalist against whom the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state has slapped several cases since 2018.
  • Wangkhem has been jailed three times.
  • The notice was issued by Naorem Praveen Singh, the DM of Imphal West district, who later in the evening issued a letter mentioning that the notice “stands withdrawn”.