The Digital India Bill, which was set to replace the Information Technology Act 2000, is likely to be further delayed as the government considers the introduction of multiple sector-specific laws for more efficient implementation.

What Happened: The Indian government is now weighing the pros and cons of introducing a comprehensive law for the entire technology ecosystem versus smaller, issue-specific legislations, as per a report by Moneycontrol.

The Digital India Bill was intended to offer a contemporary regulatory framework for the internet and artificial intelligence era, encompassing areas such as cybersecurity, digital governance and the oversight of internet intermediaries and digital platforms.

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The IT ministry is currently assessing the most effective strategy: whether to introduce a comprehensive law or to move forward with smaller, issue-specific legislations. For instance, the government may contemplate a separate legislation for artificial intelligence instead of integrating it into the larger bill.

The Digital India Bill, which has been in the pipeline for over three years, was designed to set guardrails and ethical measures for the development of AI technologies. However, the draft bill is still awaiting release.

The proposed bill might also contain provisions that empower the government to ban certain new and emerging technologies if they pose a potential threat to users.

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