Government proposes policy on online gaming and ban on online betting ads on social media platform

Government proposes policy on online gaming and ban on online betting ads on social media platform

Subject: Polity 

Context:

• Recently, the Central government has proposed amendments to ‘The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to regulate online gaming sector in India.

More about the news:

• The proposal aimed at safeguarding users against potential harm from skill-based games.
• Around 40 to 45 percent of the gamers in India are women, and therefore it was all the more important to keep the gaming ecosystem safe.
• To regulate online gaming platforms as intermediaries online gaming firms will be required to undertake additional due diligence, including:
  • KYC of users
  • Transparent withdrawal and refund of money
  • A fair distribution of winnings
• Moreover, online games will have to register with a self-regulatory body, and only games that are cleared by the body will be allowed to legally operate in India.
• The gaming firms will be required to follow norms that are laid down for entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology would be the nodal ministry to regulate online gaming, except for the e-sports category on which the Department of Sports can take the lead.
• Certain other aspects of online gaming such as advertisements, code of ethics relating to content classifications, etc. could be regulated by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
• The Consumer Affairs Ministry can regulate the sector for unfair trade practices.
• There will be a Self-Regulatory body which will have a board of directors with five members from diverse fields including online gaming, public policy, IT, psychology, and medicine.
• There could be more than one self-regulatory body.
• The body must ensure that the registered games don’t have anything:
  • which is not in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India
  • defense of India,
  • security of the state
  • friendly relations with foreign states
  • public order
  • incites the commission of any cognizable offence relating to the aforesaid.
• Moreover, the Government has proposed to ban the advertisements of online betting sites on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
• Social media platforms will have to seek verification from a proposed self regulatory body about whether an online gaming company has been registered with it, before hosting its advertisements