It Act

Self-regulating body to work at arm's length from gaming industry: IT min

Rajeev Chandrasekhar added that many of the burning issues around online user harm, safety and trust, safeguarding children from addictive intermediaries or platforms will be addressed

Laws and order

Decriminalisation will improve business environment

India's requests to Meta for user data up slightly at 55,497 in H1 of 2022

Requests from governments across the globe for user data were up 10.5% to 237,414

Laid off? Seek advice before claiming tax exemption on severance pay

You can claim only if the payout is voluntary and you have documentary proof to this effect

Tax authorities want IT professionals to declare income from 'moonlighting'

The concerns from tax authorities have come at a time when there is an ongoing debate on how far 'moonlighting' by employees can be allowed.

Reasons to block must be recorded, communicated to users: Twitter to HC

The high court was hearing the plea challenging the blocking of 39 URLs by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2021

Govt to set up social media grievance appellate committees within 3 months

The committees will be established with the aim of providing users of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter with an alternative dispute resolution method

Gifts received from non-relatives of above Rs 50,000 a year are taxable

Gifts from employer become taxable once their value exceeds Rs 5,000; bonus is also taxable

Govt not empowered to issue orders to block accounts: Twitter to HC

Council for microblogging site emphasises that Section 69A (power to intercept electronic communication) of IT Act does not spell out mass blocking of accounts

No citizen can be prosecuted under Section 66A IT Act: Supreme Court

The section relating to restrictions on online speech was declared unconstitutional on grounds of violating the freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.

No citizen can be prosecuted under scrapped section 66A of IT Act: SC

The Supreme Court Wednesday directed no citizen can be prosecuted under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which it had scrapped way back in 2015. Under the annulled section, a person posting offensive content could be imprisoned for up to three years and also fined. Underlining that liberty of thought and expression is of "cardinal" significance, the top court had on March 24, 2015 done away with the provision, saying "the public's right to know is directly affected by Section 66A of the Information Technology Act". A bench headed by Chief Justice U U Lalit said in all cases where citizens are facing prosecution for alleged violation of section 66-A of the Act, the reference and reliance upon the said provision shall stand deleted. "We direct all Director General of Police as well as Home Secretaries of the states and competent officers in Union Territories to instruct the entire police force in their respective states/Union Territories not to register any compla

WhatsApp bans 2.3 mn bad accounts in India as new PDP Bill takes shape

Meta-owned WhatsApp on Saturday said it banned over 23 lakh accounts in India in the month of August in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021

50-60% of tweets asked by govt to be blocked are 'innocuous': Twitter to HC

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday heard a petition by microblogging platform Twitter against the Central government's orders asking it to block some accounts, URLs and tweets. Twitter had challenged the orders on grounds of violation of freedom of speech and the authorities not issuing notice to the alleged violators before asking Twitter to take down content. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had on September 1 filed a 101-page statement of objection to Twitter's petition. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Twitter on Monday online, argued the company was following the rules laid out in the Information Technology Act. He contended that Twitter as a platform was affected by the Centre asking it to take down accounts without issuing notice to the alleged violators. The Centre was asking for wholesale blocking of accounts which will affect its business, according to him. He said several prominent persons have accounts on Twitter. Another .

WhatsApp takes down 2.4 million bad accounts in India in July: Report

Of the accounts barred, 1.42 million were "proactively banned," before any reports from users

TMS Ep249: Q1 GDP estimates, EV adoption, RIL stock, Sec-194R of IT Act

What do Q1 GDP estimates say about the economy? How will EV adoption affect auto component makers? When will RIL stock hit the Rs 3,500 mark? Why Sec-194R of IT Act has confused people? Answers here

TDS on benefits: Section 194R of the I-T Act has confused people

Sec 194R of the IT Act, 1961, mandates a person giving any benefit to another person to deduct 10% of the value of the benefit at source. It has created confusion as a similar section is already there

Sometimes, tax is payable on deemed income from unoccupied house

A house owner can claim only up to two properties as self-occupied

MeitY may stick with a govt-backed GAC for social media content issues

The IT rules, 2021, require significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) appoint a resident grievance officer to decide on content-related complaints

Shashi Tharoor-led Parliamentary Committee to examine IT Act 2020 today

Parliament's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will examine the working of the Information Technology Act 2020 on Tuesday.The officials from the Ministry of Information and Technology are likely to appear before this Committee.The notice that was sent out to the members of the committee reads, "Briefing by the representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on the subject 'Review of functioning of Information Technology Act, 2000."Officials from the Ministry who are likely to appear before the committee include the MEITY Secretary among other senior officials.The committee will be discussing this crucial issue at a time when Twitter has moved court against the government, and it is once again reiterated demands to remove insufficient IT laws and clearance of new IT Rules. There has been increasing demand for bringing stringent rules to ensure net neutrality, data privacy, and algorithmic .

Shashi Tharoor-led Parliamentary Committee to examine IT Act 2020

The officials from the Ministry of Information and Technology are likely to appear before this Committee