The Indian government is going to soon announce a new version of the Data Protection Bill. The work on the bill, as well as the proposed Digital India Law, is going on. Ashwini Vaishnaw, IT and telecom minister, on Monday said the new bill and the law would look to make the online world more accountable. According to a PTI report, Vaishnaw also said that the government would soon float a new telecom bill within a week. Vaishnaw said that the government’s aim is to make the online world more accountable for what is being published there. The social media, internet and technology itself should be put under a greater sense of accountability, said the minister. The centre had withdrawn the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, to replace it with a new bill with a comprehensive framework and contemporary digital laws. The bill determined how the government and the companies could utilise the data collected from individuals. Vaishnaw also said that there’s a global consensus within the G-20 group of digital ministers to make technology providers accountable for what they are offering to the market. There’s a new telecom bill on the way as well, which the government will announce within a week. The digital world is basically run because of telecom, and most of the things are consumed by smartphones connected to the internet by mobile networks. Regulating online activities is a step in the right direction from the government, which would help in stopping misinformation.
