SFLC.in is organising a Conference on Future of Tech Policy in India on 15 March in New Delhi to discuss issues related to Rights on the Internet. Our report on ‘Intermediary Liability in India: The Legal Landscape and Notable Developments’ will be launched during this event.

Broad Agenda:

• 09:30 AM to 10:00 AM - Registration

• 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM - Session 1: Misinformation and Intermediary Liability + Report launch

• 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM - Tea Break

• 11:45 AM to 01:15 PM - Session 2: The Role of Social Media in Elections

• 01:15 PM to 02:00 PM - Lunch Break

• 02:00 PM to 03:15 PM - Session 3: Online Harassment

• 03:15 PM to 03:30 PM - Tea Break

• 03:30 PM to 05:00 PM - Session 4: The Future of Tech Policy

Context for the discussions:

Internet has emerged as a “critical infrastructure of our times”,1 an ecosystem for democratic exchange of information, economic growth and evolution of new political culture. Due to the indispensability of Internet in our daily lives, the intertwined issues of fake news, online harassment, Internet shutdowns and the use of online platforms affect us deeply. Misinformation and online harassment often translate into grave physical violence. Most solutions to these have been reactionary and lack a well debated, planned and strategic approach. The Government has proposed the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2019, (Draft Rules) that threatens free speech and privacy rights by pushing intermediaries to take proactive steps to censor online content. A Draft National E-Commerce Policy released recently is being perceived a barrier to free flow of data across borders as it recommends data localization among other things. Self regulatory measures taken by technology companies in the form of Community Guidelines lack transparency and have not sufficiently addressed user concerns. Unsurprisingly, we have not yet arrived at a solution that can balance our rights with public security concerns.

A safe, inclusive, accessible and democratic Internet cannot become a reality unless the solutions are driven by a true mutli-stakeholder discussion. To collectively answer these questions and brainstorm ideas to inform the policy debate in tech policy, we invite you to our Conference on Future of Tech Policy in India, where we will be launching our report on ‘Intermediary Liability in India: The Legal Landscape and Notable Developments’.

We have recently organised discussions on Misinformation and Intermediary Liability in New Delhi (Jan 11, Jan 18, Feb 13), Bengaluru (Jan 15), Mumbai (Jan 16), Kochi (Jan 30) and Hyderabad (Feb 12). We have published a Blue Paper2 containing comments, remarks and inputs received during the above-mentioned discussions.

Registration and participation are free of charge. Please share this invitation with your friends, colleagues and anyone else that you believe might be interested in participating in the discussion.