Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar (file photo).

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has

notified amendments to the IT (Intermediate Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules 2021 related to the dissemination of false and misleading information regarding online gaming and functioning of the government

Minister of State for IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that betting and

will not be allowed in online gaming. 

Chandrasekhar said that the purpose of these amendments is to make the Internet open, secure, reliable and accountable.

He told reporters that the purpose of these amendments

is to enforce more due diligence on 

He said, “It is the vision and goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the youth of India should get every possible opportunity to create startups and do something new for the world.

He said, "Online gaming is definitely a big opportunity for India and young Indians.

We are seeing India's online gaming ecosystem expand and grow into a multi-billion dollar industry and could become a key catalyst towards India's target of a trillion dollar digital economy by 2025-26.

In this, the ban on online betting and gambling is quite clear.

He informed that these amendments have been drafted after extensive consultations with various stakeholders including parents of children, teachers of schools, educationists, students, gamers and gaming industry associations, child rights bodies.

The matter relating to online gaming regulations was allocated to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY) on December 23 last year under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. 

The ministry prepared a draft amendment to the IT rules within a fortnight and uploaded it on the ministry's website for consultation on January 2, 2023.

Meetings were organized on 11th, 17th January and 16th February 2023 for consultation with the stakeholders.

A body will be formed to check misinformation on the Internet

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the Ministry of Information Broadcasting (IT) will soon notify a unit to detect misinformation posted on the Internet about the government.

He said, “The government has decided to notify a unit through the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

This organization will check the facts of all the information posted on online forums.

Regarding the rules for online gaming, the minister said that there will be several Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) who will decide about the permission of online games based on the framework.

Chandrasekhar said, “Private companies have filed a draft for SRO, which will be discussed with them.

The government will list the SROs.

It will be an independent entity.

We are starting with three SROs.

If more is needed, we will do that too."

Media cautioned about online betting advertising

The government on Thursday warned media houses about the advertisements of betting forums.

The advisory has been issued a few days after such advertisement material was published in mainstream English and Hindi newspapers.

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has taken strong objection to the recent instances of publication of advertisements and promotional material of websites allegedly offering betting in English and Hindi newspapers.

In an advisory, the ministry advised media houses, media platforms and online advertising intermediaries to refrain from advertising or promotional material on betting platforms.

An official statement said that the advisory has been issued to all media including newspapers, television channels and online news publishers and specific instances have been cited where such advertisements have appeared in the media in the recent past.

(also from input language)