Draft of New IT Act to be out soon:

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Government Policies and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context:

In the first step towards overhauling the two-decade old IT Act, the government has said it will put up the draft of the proposed new legislative framework for public consultation as soon as next month.

• The government is looking at a new legislative framework with the new rulemaking capabilities that deal with various issues related to the digital space, in a very modern, contemporary and harmonized way.

Information Technology Act, 2000:

• It is the primary law in India for matters related to cybercrime and e-commerce.
• The act was enacted to give legal sanction to electronic commerce and electronic transactions, to enable e-governance, and also to prevent cybercrime.
• Under this law, for any crime involving a computer or a network located in India, foreign nationals can also be charged.
• The law prescribes penalties for various cybercrimes and fraud through digital/electronic format.
• It also gives legal recognition to digital signatures.

The flaws of IT Act 2000 are:

Privacy issues: The IT Act also doesn’t address privacy issues – privacy is now a fundamental right and the law needs to specifically address privacy concerns, but that’s not the case.

Poor protection of cybersecurity: The Indian IT Act is not a cybersecurity law and therefore does not deal with the nuances of cybersecurity.

Lack of expertise: Regular police personnel, specifically any officer holding the rank of inspector, are responsible for investigating nefarious online activities.

Section 66A of the IT Act: In Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India (2015), the Supreme court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act.

Need of the hour:

Insta Curious:

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InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. About Section 66A of the IT Act.
2. About Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
3. Shreya Singhal case is related to?
4. New IT Act.

Mains Link:

Discuss why Section 66A of the IT Act was struck down by the Supreme Court.

Sources: the Hindu.