Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has approved a controversial new digital media policy incentivising positive coverage about its work by social media influencers and digital platforms while threatening legal action against content that it deems to be “objectionable” or “anti-national.”
“Under no circumstances, should the content be indecent, obscene or anti-national,” Sanjay Prasad, principal secretary to CM Adityanath and the state’s information department, said in a statement.
The state cabinet on Tuesday, August 27, approved the Uttar Pradesh New Digital Media Policy, 2024. The new policy mandates legal action against digital platforms or influencers who upload “objectionable content” on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.
On the other hand, it has made it lucrative for digital platforms as well as ‘influencers’ to propagate the “achievements” of the state government and promise them advertisements.
Digital influencers are those social media users or individuals who have a large number of followers and use their reach to endorse or market products, ideas or political beliefs. In recent years, the ruling BJP has channelised a large section of these content creators to suit its political goals but it continues to face critical coverage from some independent social media platforms as well as individuals.
Now, digital media platforms and influencers can earn up to Rs 8 lakh a month for video content that propagates the “achievements” of other development work and schemes of the government.
Prasad said the policy was prepared to disseminate information about “various developmental, public welfare, beneficial schemes and achievements” of the state and its benefits to the people through digital media platforms and other similar social media platforms.
Under the new policy, the government will list agencies and firms for the purpose of providing advertisements in order to promote them for creating and displaying content, tweets, videos, posts and reels based on the “schemes and achievements” of the government on X, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
The policy would also increase the probability of the residents of the state who are residing in different parts of the country or abroad to be ensured of employment in large numbers, said Prasad.
The state government has divided the payscale of digital media account holders, operators and influencers on X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube into four categories on the basis of their subscribers and followers.
Account holders of X, Facebook and Instagram can receive a maximum monthly payout of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, or Rs 3 lakh, depending on their reach. Similarly, those engaging in podcasts, videos and ‘shorts’ (short video clips) on YouTube will be entitled to receive a maximum sum of Rs 8 lakh per month. Depending on their categorisation, YouTube users would also be able to earn Rs 7 lakh, 6 lakh or Rs 4 lakh per month.
The Congress accused the BJP government of trying to “brazenly capture” the digital media space through its new policy, which punishes criticism and encourages the publicity of its work.
“Now the government is bent on taking up the media for ‘adoption’ without any fear or hesitation. If this is not a danger to democracy, then what is,” asked UP Congress.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi justified the new digital media policy, saying it was in line with the party’s focus on paying attention to the “changes happening in society.”
Tripathi reiterated the gist of the new digital media policy, saying that those who are doing “good work” will be provided advertisements as a means of employment while those who spread rumours on social media, “spoil communal harmony and create dangers for law and order” will be dealt with strictly.
UP’s digital media policy will “set a precedent” for the rest of the country, said Tripathi.