India aims to ramp up Information Technology Act to block e-cig promotion

New changes to the Information Technology Act aim to block any information on the internet promoting e-cigarettes to residents of India.

This week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed an amendment to the Draft of the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines Rules, which obliges any intermediary or internet-based service provider to inform users not to “host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that (…) threatens public health or safety; promotion of cigarettes or any other tobacco products or consumption of intoxicant including alcohol and Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS).”

According to the Information Technology Act, an intermediary is any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits content or provides any service with respect to that content, such as YouTube.