Reports of the ministry's letter came a day after the Bombay High Court stayed provisions of the IT Rules requiring digital news publishers to submit to a grievance mechanism. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has written to industry bodies to nominate expert members who will be a part of the IT Rules-mandated Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) to regulate OTT platforms and digital news organisations, according to a report by Hindustan Times. While the Information Technology Rules 2021 mentions that 'domain experts' would be a part of the IDC, it does not specify how the experts will be selected. The IT Rules require OTT platforms and digital news publishers to submit to a three-tiered grievance mechanism with the government at the top. Since the top body will consist of representatives from various ministries (besides experts), this could enable greater government control over streaming content and news media. Who will be a part of the IDC? Chairperson of the IDC: The IT rules specify that an officer 'not below the rank of Joint Secretary' at the MIB will be the chairman of this committee. According to the Hindustan Times report, this person will be Vikram Sahay who is the Joint Secretary at the MIB. The HT report reveals that the IDC will have expert members from the following bodies- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI): One member as an expert from the Media and Entertainment industry Confederation of Indian Industries (CII): One member as an expert from the Media and Entertainment…
