Absence of formal dialogues between countries like the US and India regarding the internet will create islands with different legal frameworks, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday. He said there is a need to reach a global understanding on the internet.
Speaking at an event by the US India Strategic Partnership Forum, Chandrasekhar said the power of the internet is playing out in India with e-commerce and other activities.
However, there must be dialogue on issues like data protection and cross-border data flow to avoid creating islands on the internet that stay unconnected to other countries.
“I think there is a need for that kind of conversation to start in a formal way. In terms of jurisprudence, legal framework, bilateral understanding of countries like the US and India… Currently all countries are at different levels of understanding in terms of how we see the internet,” Chandrasekhar said.
He said the dialogue will lead to a global understanding on the role of government and regulators, and it will be risky if countries do not engage on such issues.
“We will create little islands of very differential rules and regulations that either create opportunities for arbitrage or have one set of consumers have disadvantage over other sets of consumers,” the minister said. PTI
