IT ministry appoints new group coordinator of cyber laws division

Deepak Goel, scientist of National Informatics Centre (NIC), which designs and develops IT systems for the government, has been designated as Group Coordinator of Cyber Laws and Data Governance division of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) from July 1 this year. He takes over from Sandip Chatterjee who will be retiring on June 30.

The Cyber Laws and Data Governance division under MeitY enforces the Information Technology Act of 2000. It fosters electronic transactions, provides legal validation for e-commerce, facilitates e-governance, prevents computer-based crimes, and implements security measures.

The IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021 enables the division to regulate social media intermediaries, and online gaming. A Grievance Appellate Committee resolves social media grievances to provide relief to social media users in India.


The division advocates frameworks for data governance and delves into the legal implications of technologies such as IoT, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, while also addressing aspects of competition law, company law, copyright Act, and intellectual property rights protection within the domain of information technology.