Companies want these experts to analyse the upcoming regulation, pre-empt any likely conflict, and prepare them for that, people aware of the development said.
“The regulatory landscape in India is changing very fast on the digital front and the big tech multinationals are getting impact analysis done on how this would affect their operations and revenues,” said Ankita Singh, partner at law firm A&P Partners. “In some cases, these companies even want to create structures or insulate their data or other intellectual properties, as not doing so could have global repercussions for them,” she said.
The government is looking to introduce the Digital India Act (DIA) in the winter session of parliament as ET first reported last week.
The new regulation hopes to cover the entire digital ecosystem, from social media platforms, OTT platforms, and online apps, to the metaverse and blockchain-based crimes or offences.
The new regulatory framework will impact large tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Facebook, experts said.
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One big concern for the tech companies is to analyse whether their intellectual properties, operations or revenues will be impacted, insiders said.
“The expected DIA is likely to make things more onerous for big techs… Stronger focus on privacy, data localisation for critical data, content moderation, and surveillance on cyber bullying are all on the cards,” said Siddharth Vishwanath, partner at PwC India. “Further, the government may also be looking to see how anonymised data is democratised to create a more level-playing field for startups and new ventures,” he said.
Twitter and Netflix refused to respond to an ET questionnaire. Google, Facebook and Amazon did not respond to the queries until press time Tuesday.
DIA looks to target misinformation and incitement of violence among other things.
The regulation is set to
the government to block a Twitter handle or Facebook page temporarily for 24 hours if it’s found to be spreading misinformation or inciting violence.
These companies were trying to push back on the Data Protection and Privacy Bill 2019, and the government had agreed to several amendments.
The DIA is now set to subsume these amendments.
The companies now want to know how exactly the new regulations will impact their operations, not just in the country but globally.
People aware of the development said the government could take a leaf out of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to formulate the Indian guidelines.
Under DIA, Indian users could give specific permissions to various apps they use and then take that away or ask the apps not to save their data or not use their personal data for any other purpose.
This could impact revenues of these apps, experts said.
DIA is also hoping to open some data from tech giants to Indian startups.
The government could ask search engines like Google to share certain data, probably on a no-name basis.
This could then be opened for startups that want to analyse and use it for their products.
“This would remove the entry barrier for Indian startups in many ways,” said a person aware of the development.
Something on these lines would, however, worry the tech companies as they may not be confident to share such data with any government.
“While it depends on the nature of the data, for most multinationals, data is of utmost importance. Companies are working to make sure that either this data doesn’t sit in a particular jurisdiction or if it does, it’s legally insulated,” a legal expert working with two large tech companies told ET.
The new law is looking to replace the existing IT Act, 2000.
The DIA would articulate and have regulations around technologies including 5G, metaverse, blockchain and cryptocurrency.
DIA is also looking to put safeguards regarding child safety and women’s safety, and regulation against inciting violence and spreading misinformation, as ET reported earlier.
