|THE DEN|
The new Information Technology rules were announced by the Ministry of electronics and information technology on February 25, 2021 which suppresses India’s intermediary guidelines rules 2011. On February 26, a 34 page new IT rules document was notified in the official gazette entitled as “Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021”. In accordance to the new guidelines , a set of comprehensive regulations were mounted to regulate social media companies, streaming and digital news content, virtually bringing them, bounding them under government supervision.
These new IT rules came into force on May 26, 2021.
May 25 - The rumours shook the internet
On may 25th, the day before implementation of new digital media rules ,rumors regarding banning of social media companies dispersed across the internet. Indians went crazy after hearing this news as social media giants were given three-months to comply with comprehensive guidelines which were released in February but popular platforms like WhatsAPP, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram did not accede to the new policies.
But later on, it got clarified that they may face legal proceedings for non-compliance but will not be banned. Whatsapp sued the Indian government over new privacy rules on May 25th . After days of faceoff, on May 28, seven social media giants complied with major provisions of regulations including WhatsAPP.
But twitter refused to comply and raised concerns regarding free speech over the new IT rules. On June 16 ,Twitter was accused by the Indian government for not complying with the new rules .On July 6, government said “Twitter has lost legal immunity for users posts in India”, after this statement, Twitter agreed to comply with new policies to sustain its legal immunity on July 8.
Petitions against the IT rules by news organisations
Media outlets arguing that these rules will permit the government to control their content squarely. The Quint on March 19 filed petition stating that the new rules have a “chilling effect on media freedom” On 23 June 2021, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) urged the court to declare the 2021 IT rules as ultra vires , void and voilative of article 14 of the constitution.
On July 7, Press trust of India (PTI) challenged new rules and argued that the rules would “usher in an era of surveillance and fear” before Delhi high court. Several other media outlets, including The Wire, LiveLaw and Alt news, petitioned asserting new IT rules as “unconstitutional”. On 6th July, The Central government urged to transfer petition of all cases challenging the constitutionality of the Digital media Rules 2021, from various High Courts to the Supreme Court.
“Transfer of all pleas to the top court will avoid prolixity, multiplicity of proceedings and divergent judicial views on the validity of the new IT rules”, the centre stated in its petition. The hearing of centre’s petition has been scheduled for July 16th. Whilst the Delhi and Bombay High courts had refused to provide interim protection from coercive action to these media organisations, on Friday, July 9, the Kerala High court heard the News Broadcasters Association’s petition and passed an interim order that no coercive action be taken against NBA for not complying with rules.
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