UP Cabinet Approves Strict Social Media Policy with New Content Regulations

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has passed a new social media policy, which will regulate the content on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms. The policy lays down the standard operating procedure for handling the objectionable content on the social media sites, thereby making legal action necessary in such cases.

The new policy treats posting anti-national posts as a grave offense, the punishment for which ranges from a term of three years in prison to life imprisonment. Till now, such offences were taken under Sections 66E and 66F of the IT Act that deal with the violations of privacy and cyber-terrorism. India Today reported that the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Another myriad issue tackled by the new policy covers dissemination of obscene or defamatory material online, which is criminal defamation; this makes it quite clear how grave are the legal consequences when these digital platforms are misused.

The Uttar Pradesh Digital Media Policy, 2024, accordingly encourages publicising of the government schemes, initiatives, and achievements through display of advertisements on all social media platforms. According to the policy, a digital agency is empanelled, V-Form, which is allowed to manage all advertisements displayed. V-Form shall manage the visibility of videos, tweets, posts, and reels regarding government schemes and initiatives.

Influencers can earn up to Rs 8 lakh a month on the back of just promoting government schemes and programmes on their channels. This policy also aims at providing job opportunities for social media influencers.

The revised guidelines have also prescribed the payment limits for influencers, account holders, and operators on different platforms. The maximum monthly payment limits for X, Facebook, and Instagram are Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, and Rs 3 lakh, respectively. Regarding YouTube, it had put the limits at Rs 8 lakh for videos, Rs 7 lakh for shorts, Rs 6 lakh for podcasts, and Rs 4 lakh for others.