In A Fresh Probe Indian IT Rules Challenged By Publishers

• ByStartupStory     |    June 24, 2021

The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the central government on the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The petition was filed by Former editor of The Hindu Mukund Padmanabhan, and The Digital News Publishers Association, which comprises 13 media outlets including the ABP Network, Express Network, NDTV Convergence, TV Today Network, Malayala Manorama and Times Internet (the digital arm of the Times Group, which also publishes The Economic Times). The court granted liberty to the petitioners, to approach it if any coercive or arm twisting action is taken by the Centre. It is being seen as a ray of hope for Indian left wingers, since big names are associated with the probe. Since IT Rules have been challenged by Publishers, the Government will not it lightly, and will hopefully understand the crisis.

After  Whatsapp took to court against the IT Rules, and Twitter had to face charges for not complying with the rules, voices of journalists and social activists were getting louder. They claimed since the beginning that these IT rules were infiltrating people’s privacy. The Constitution holds Right to Privacy as a fundamental right, and violating that is beyond criminal. In fact, Amazon and Flipkart also had to bear the brunt of the Indian Government. Finally, hoping to actually take action, the publishers of the top newspapers united and called out the Government on these IT rules by taking the matter officially to court. The matter has been listed for further hearing in three weeks and the respondents have been asked to file their counter in two weeks. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has quashed a fresh plea by WhatsApp and parent company Facebook to stay a notice from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which is seeking information for an ongoing probe into the instant messaging app’s updated privacy policy.

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