Digital India Bill: Govt may ban new tech if ‘discriminatory’, poses threat to ‘national security’

In order to regulate new tech at the developing stage itself, the government is likely to bring in provisions in the upcoming Digital India Bill, prohibiting new and emerging technologies if they are likely to cause harm to users, discriminate against certain groups, or pose harm to national security.

The Bill, which is most likely to propose creation of Digital India Authority, a regulator for online spaces, could also bestow upon this body the power to penalise developers of emerging technologies if proposed ‘principles’ are violated, Indian Express reported. This would require considering factors such as purpose of new tech, nature and design of emerging tech, potential harms it can cause, etc. 

“Some emerging technologies may be prohibited if there is a significant likelihood of harm to users which can not be mitigated, if the technology poses a risk to national security or public order, and if its deployment is likely to discriminate against people on grounds like their sexual orientation or political leanings... But, whatever the government decides, its reasons for barring any technology will be recorded in writing”, a senior government official on request of anonymity told the publication. 

Which emerging technologies would be regulated are still a matter of discussions, but it is almost certain that blockchain and metaverse will be well within the Bill’s ambit. 

The Indian Express had earlier reported that the government is attempting to widen the horizon of ‘key legal provision- erstwhile Section 69 (A) of the IT Act- that empowers it to issue takedown orders, including dropping language that prescribes some legal guardrails around blocking orders, and potentially opening up the application of the provision to other conditions.’

Under the Bill, the government is also likely to bring in blocking provisions for restricting access of technology to the public, in addition to regulating deployment of Artifical Intelligence (AI) models by unlocking social media platform user’s rights to be informed of automated technological decisions made by them. This might also empower users to opt-out of any algorithmic change that a platform might want to impose. 

The Digital India Bill has been under development for over a year, and is finally set to be released soon for consultation, before it is taken up in the Parliament for consideration.