in a nutshell
As predicted in a newsletter published earlier this month (accessible here), the Online Safety (Other Amendments) Bill (“Specification“) was read a second time in parliament and passed into law on November 9, 2022. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCI) has not announced a start date for the new law, but it will be published along with an online code of conduct. safety (“Code of conduct”), which could start as early as 2023.
In summary, the bill creates a new part in the existing broadcasting law (“activityRegulates “online communication services” (OCS), electronic services that allow users to access content and communicate over the Internet.
This new part of the law applies only to certain types of OCS listed in the Fourth Schedule to the law. At this time, only social media services are preferentially regulated as OCS under the Act. However, the list of OCS may grow over time as part of additional targeted governmental approaches to regulation of various types of OCS.
Along with the amended law, there will also be a code of conduct detailing the necessary safeguards to prevent users, especially minors, from accessing harmful content in 2023, after final consultation with social media companies. It will be released. For more information on the obligations expected under the Code of Conduct, see his June newsletter here.
For your information, a draft Code of Conduct was published by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in October 2022 and is expected to be further revised in the final version.
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