Centre to reconsider safe harbour clause in IT law (GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- The Union government recently formally outlined the Digital India Act, 2023, which is a broad overhaul of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- Multiple rounds of consultations will be held before the new Act is brought to Parliament.
Safe harbor:
- The government is reconsidering a key aspect of cyberspace, ‘safe harbour’, which is the principle that the so-called ‘intermediaries’ on the Internet are not responsible for what third parties post on their website. This is the principle that allows social media platforms to avoid liability for posts made by users.
- Safe harbour has been reined in recent years by regulations such as the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which require platforms to take down posts when ordered to do so by the government, or when required by law.
- From the 2000s onward platforms for which safe harbour was applied as a concept “have now morphed into multiple types of participants and platforms on the Internet, functionally very different from each other, and requiring different types of guardrails and regulatory requirements.”
Free Speech:
- It was also signalled that social media platforms’ own moderation policies may now take a backseat to constitutional protections for freedom of expression.
- An October 2022 amendment to the IT Rules, 2021 says that platforms must respect users’ free speech rights. Three Grievance Appellate Committees have now been established to take up content complaints by social media users.
Other features of Digital India Act 2023:
- A slew of such digital legislation is now likely to be subsumed into the Digital India Act.
- The other aspects that the Digital India Act would cover, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), deepfakes, cybercrime, competition issues among Internet platforms, and data protection.
- The new law would seek to address “new complex forms of user harms” that have emerged in the years since the IT Act’s enactment, such as catfishing, doxxing, trolling, and phishing.
- A new “adjudicatory mechanism” for criminal and civil offences committed online would come into place.
Way Forward:
- The government put out a draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill in 2022 and it would be one of the four prongs of the Digital India Act, with the National Data Governance Policy and amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) being others, along with rules formulated under the Digital India Act.
- The government will hold multiple rounds of consultations with the public and industry stakeholders to arrive first at the principles for this Act, and subsequently to iron out a draft that will be put out by the Ministry.
IBSA can play vital role in reforming digital governance
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- India, Brazil, and South Africa, which have together formed the tripartite IBSA Forum, may play a prominent role in the process of reforming digital governance, at a time when digital geopolitical tensions are showing no signs of easing, according to the Geneva-based DiploFoundation.
Observations made:
- The first tangible results from IBSA’s digital momentum could be expected during India’s G-20 presidency, which, among others, will promote ‘a new gold standard for data’. The IBSA countries are strong supporters of multilateral and multi-stakeholder approaches.
- But digitalisation also tends to exacerbate major societal tensions that these countries face, including the digital divide, and the need to have digital governance that will reflect local cultural, political, and economic specificities.
Digital inclusion:
- The three countries have spearheaded digital inclusion by prioritising affordable access to citizens, by supporting training for digital skills, and by a legal framework for the growth of small digital enterprises.
- For example, India’s Aadhaar biometric ID system is seen by many as a leading digital identity initiative, inspiring similar systems in other countries.
- On the issue of data and sustainable development, the foundation says that India’s G-20 presidency aims for strategic leadership with practical initiatives such as a self-evaluation of nations’ data governance architecture; modernisation of national data systems to regularly incorporate citizen voices and preferences; and transparency principles for governing data.
Geopolitical tensions:
- Going by the report, digital geopolitics in 2023 will be centred on the issues pertaining to the protection of submarine cables and satellites, production of semiconductors, and the free flow of data.
- The report says that from submarine cables to satellites, digital geopolitical tensions remain stressed in 2023, especially between the U.S. and China.
About IBSA:
- The grouping was formalized and named the IBSA Dialogue Forum when the Foreign Ministers of the three countries met in Brasilia (Brazil) on 6th June 2003 and issued the Brasilia Declaration.
- IBSA does not have a headquarters or a permanent executive secretariat.
- At the highest level, it counts on the Summits of Heads of State and Government.
- IBSAMAR (IBSA Maritime Exercise) is an important part of IBSA trilateral defence cooperation.
The India Australia relationship
GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Australia will host Exercise Malabar for the first time, and India will, also for the first time, participate in Australia’s Talisman Sabre exercise, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced recently.
- As part of his four-day visit, he landed in Ahmedabad and celebrated Holi. He and Indian PM watched a cricket match, the fourth and final Test of the series between India and Australia.
- He is the first leader of his country to make a bilateral visit to India since Malcolm Turnbull in 2017.
Historical perspective:
- The India-Australia bilateral relationship has been underpinned by the shared values of pluralistic, Westminster-style democracies, Commonwealth traditions, expanding economic engagement, and increasing high-level interaction.
- The end of the Cold War and beginning of India’s economic reforms in 1991 provided the impetus for the development of closer ties between the two nations. The ever-increasing numbers of Indian students travelling to Australia for higher education, and the growing tourism and sporting links, have played a significant role in strengthening bilateral relations.
- With the passage of time, ties evolved in the direction of a strategic relationship, alongside the existing economic engagement. In recent years, the relationship has charted a new trajectory of transformational growth.
- With greater convergence of views on issues such as international terrorism, and a shared commitment to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, the two democracies have taken their cooperation to plurilateral formats, including the Quad (with the United States and Japan).
Strategic ties:
- In September 2014, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited India, and in November 2014, Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Australia after Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. He also became the first Indian PM to address a joint sitting of the Parliament of Australia.
- At the India-Australia Leaders’ Virtual Summit in June 2020, Modi and Prime Minister Scott Morrison elevated the bilateral relationship from the Strategic Partnership concluded in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
- They met in person in Washington DC and at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. At the 2nd India-Australia Virtual Summit in March 2022, several key announcements were made, including on a Letter of Intent on Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement to foster the exchange of skills, and a Letter of Arrangement for Educational Qualifications Recognition to facilitate the mobility of students and professionals.
- There has been a series of high-level engagements and exchange of ministerial visits in 2022 and in 2023.
China factor:
- Ties between Australia and China were strained after Canberra in 2018 banned Chinese telecom firm Huawei from the 5G network. Later, it called for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, and slammed China’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. China responded by imposing trade barriers on Australian exports, and by cutting off all ministerial contact.
- India has been facing an aggressive Chinese military along the border. Both have been assessing the Chinese challenge since 2013.
- The countries’ participation in Quad is an example of their convergence of interests, based on shared concerns.
Wide cooperation
Economic cooperation:
- The Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA), the first free trade agreement signed by India with a developed country in a decade entered into force in December 2022, and has resulted in an immediate reduction of duty to zero on 96% of Indian exports to Australia in value (that is 98% of the tariff lines) and zero duty on 85% of Australia’s exports (in value) to India.
- Bilateral trade was US$ 27.5 billion in 2021; with ECTA, there is potential for it to reach around US$ 50 billion in five years.
People-to-people ties:
- India is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia. As per the 2021 Census, around 9.76 lakh people in Australia reported their ancestry as Indian origin, making them the second largest group of overseas-born residents in Australia.
- To celebrate India@75, the Australian government illuminated more than 40 buildings across the country, and Prime Minister Albanese issued a personal video message.
Education:
- The Mechanism for Mutual Recognition of Educational Qualifications (MREQ) was signed on March 2, 2023. This will facilitate mobility of students between India and Australia.
- Deakin University and University of Wollongong are planning to open campuses in India. More than 1 lakh Indian students are pursuing higher education degrees in Australian universities, making Indian students the second largest cohort of foreign students in Australia.
Defence cooperation:
- The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in September 2021, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia visited in June 2022.
- The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) was concluded during the Virtual Summit in June 2020, and the two militaries held several joint exercises in 2022.
- Australia will host military operations with India, Japan, and the US in the “Malabar” exercises off the coast of Perth in August, and has invited India to join the Talisman Sabre exercises in 2023.
Clean energy:
- The countries signed a Letter of Intent on New and Renewable Energy in February 2022 which provides for cooperation towards bringing down the cost of renewable energy technologies, especially ultra low-cost solar and clean hydrogen.
- During the Virtual Summit in March 2022, India announced matching funds of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) and of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under International Solar Alliance (ISA).
