Centres writes to Manipur after it issues notice to talk show under new digital media laws

Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare on Tuesday wrote to the Manipur government saying that powers to administer notices have not been delegated to state governments, police commissioners or District Magistrates under the new media laws.

“The rules relating to news publishers and publishers of Online Curated Content (OTT) Platforms, including the Code of Ethics, the 3-Tier Grievances Redressal Mechanism, are to be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. These powers have not been delegated to the state governments or District Magistrate, or Police Commissioner,” read Khare’s letter to the Manipur Chief Secretary.

The letter was sent after the Imphal West district magistrate on Monday served a notice to Manipuri talk show ‘Khanasi Neinasi’ under the new media laws notified by the Centre on February 25.

The DM had served the notice to the Publisher/Intermediary of the talk show Khanasi Neinasi, directing the publisher to furnish to the DM all the relevant documents for ensuring compliance to the provisions of the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

The notice also said, “failing which, steps as deemed fit would be initiated without further notice.” (ANI)