India: Announced Digital India Act

On 9 March 2023, the Government of India announced it will introduce a "Digital India Act", which is currently being discussed with stakeholders. Notably, the Act would address the issue of user harm on the internet by regulating illegal content online. The Act aims to help India achieve the goal of becoming a "trillion-dollar digital economy" and to become a significant "trusted player" in the Global Value Chains for digital products, devices, platforms and solutions. The Act would incorporate global standard cyber laws based on the guiding principles of an open internet, online safety, accountability and quality of service, management of the risks of emerging technologies, and protection of citizen rights. In addition, the Act would create a dedicated adjudicatory mechanism for online civil and criminal offences.