India's IT & Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, speaking at the Law Commission's consultation on Media Law on Saturday, said that "As far as the legal architecture (of media regulation) is concerned, self regulation should be the mode. It's not an off the cuff remark. It carries a lot of meaning." His comments come in the wake of a TRAI recommendation for an a single regulatory authority for TV and print media, and rumors that the NDA government is planning to table the communications convergence bill, and create a super regulator for media. Details of the the TRAI recommendation here. Notes from the ministers speech: - On Section 66a of the IT Act, which has been used to arrest individuals for posting comments online: "There are concerns around section 66a of the IT act. I have given clear instructions that this be used only under extreme circumstances. 19.1(a) gives freedom of expression, but 19.2 gives reasonable restrictions. In the extreme event that a website has to be blamed for communal issues or national security issues, there is a committee and a final whetting by secretary. This should be very, very rare. We need to trust the innate maturity of our understanding that the people of India have this freedom." - On Social Media: "We are very proud of that (social media), how India is changing. When I learned that 70% of Google traffic outside US is from India, I'm very proud. I was travelling to India via Bangkok, they have…
