Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved a new social media policy to empanel content creators to publicise government schemes on digital platforms, Information and Public Relations Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy announced Friday.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu gave his approval to the Social Media Influencers (SMIs) policy, adding that the state would consult social media content creators to include their inputs before finalising the Andhra Pradesh framework.
To qualify for empanelment, content creators on YouTube, X, Instagram and Facebook must have at least 10,000 followers, after which the government will conduct a background check. Once their credentials are verified, a thorough audit of posts will be conducted to check if their content is flagged for hate speech, profanity, or content that is not backed by facts.
The initial empanelment will be for a year, with a provision to extend the contract up to two years based on the content creators’ performance, the policy read.
The government has categorised content creators into four categories—A to D—based on the number of followers from 10,000 to a lakh. The maximum fee payable to the content creators has been capped at Rs 1.5 lakh per month, the minister said, while addressing the media. Slab rates for audio-visual content, information graphics, and posters released by the I&PR department have also been notified.
“The content creators will function under the Andhra Pradesh Digital Corporation Limited (APDCL), and all content promoted must be factual, impartial, and in the public interest. All content shall be posted on different social media platforms only after government approval,” K Parthasarathy said.
The minister said the decision to introduce the policy was made to rein in unmonitored social media behaviour online (in connection with government schemes and announcements), adding that legal action would be taken if media creators engaged in fake news campaigns, character assassination, communal incitement, and cyber harassment directed either at women or public representatives.
“It has become a disease to say anything under the guise of free speech. Therefore, we have introduced a stringent policy to fact-check the content posted periodically. These updates will have to be shared with viewers free of charge, and the government retains the discretion to blacklist creators who are found to be violating rules,” the minister said.
Andhra Pradesh is not the first state to introduce such a policy. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan have all announced similar policies where content creators are paid up to Rs 2 lakh in certain states to promote government schemes.
While the activities of the content creators will be managed by the APDCL (AP Digital Corporation Limited), the I&PR department will have oversight of its functioning, I&PR Secretary K.S. Vishwanathan told ThePrint.
The AP Digital Corporation is a state-owned nodal agency in Andhra Pradesh that manages digital media infrastructure and public outreach for the government. It was established in 2018 under the first Chandrababu Naidu government as Content Corporation, which was subsequently renamed AP Digital Corporation by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led (YSRCP government between 2019 and 2024.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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