Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: Adequate Regulation Of Intermediaries?

Introduction: What is an Intermediary

The term 'Intermediary' has been defined in clause (w) of sub-section 1 of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (" IT Act") as "any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits an electronic record or provides any service with respect to that record and includes telecom service providers, network service providers, internet service providers, web-hosting service providers, search engines, online payment sites, online-auction sites, online-market places and cyber cafes".

This is a very broad definition. This not only covers social media companies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) but also a wide range of players in the internet ecosystem including search engines (Google Inc., Yahoo Inc.), online payment sites (Paypal, Phonepe), online-market place (Amazon, Flipkart), telecom service providers (Jio, Vi), and cyber-cafes. The definition applies to any company where the user has an identity in the