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PTI files suit against Centre’s new IT rules, says it impinges on freedom of speech and violates right to privacy
PTI has called the Code of Ethics "draconian" and said that the Rules "usher in an era of surveillance and fear” that will lead to "self-censorship" and violation of fundamental rights.
Press Trust of India (PTI), one of India’s largest news agencies has challenged the guidelines of the new Information Technology (IT) rules and has argued that it infringes the right to freedom of speech and expression and violates the right to privacy of the users as well.
The news agency has challenged parts of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which seek to supervise the regulation of digital news media publishers. It has called the Code of Ethics "draconian" and said that the Rules "usher in an era of surveillance and fear” that will lead to "self-censorship" and violation of fundamental rights, according to a Forbes India report.
Also read: Centre asks SC to transfer petitions against new IT rules from 5 high courts
This the ninth lawsuit filed by a news organisation against the Centre's Digital Media Code of Ethics and the second by a legacy media company. Filed on behalf of the chief administrative officer Mohini Ranjan Mishra, the petition states that its editor-in-chief and CEO, Vijay Joshi, is involved in the matter, as per the report.
The petition, however, stated that it is challenging the Rules only concerned with news publishers and not OTT platforms or intermediaries.
On impinging the freedom of speech and expression, PTI argued that the three-tier grievance redressal mechanism, which is headed by an inter-ministerial committee has also been granted emergency blocking powers, which will "inexorably" result in the adjudication of news by the executives. In the new rules the blocking powers have “travelled beyond the scope and mandate of Section 69A(2)”, which allowed the use of blocking powers only against intermediaries. PTI has called the mechanism an "eye wash" as it claimed that publishers of news will be subjected to government diktat at every stage and said that allowing the State to regulate news is "against public interest".
The news agency also argued that the Part II of the Rules, under which entities like Jio, Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. are regulated is “antithetical to fundamental rights” and give “private intermediaries with excessive powers in shaping the disclosure of free speech in the country," reported Forbes. It also said that Rule 7, under which the intermediaries will lose immunity from liability for third party content on non-compliance, will have "chilling effect of the intermediaries" on free speech as they will be over compliant.
The news agency also submitted that the Rules aid in the creation of the surveillance state as it requires a publisher to furnish information to the ministry of information and broadcasting in a way for the government to get access to the list of subscribers and users of publishers. The government in this way is "effectively seeking circumvention of industry standard encryption tools and creating a backdoor entry for themselves to monitor online activity of users”, PTI said, arguing that it violates the right to privacy, according to the report.
As per a Forbes India previous report, this means that the digital publishers not only have to submit the names of the Twitter handles and Facebook pages but also the details of their telecom service provider, cloud service provider, email service provider, payment service provider, hosting service provider etc. Nikhil Narendran, partner at Trilegal called this "excessive", reported Forbes India and said it is a “symptom of the government trying to exert excessive control over free speech itself”.
This is scared to pose a huge cybersecurity risk according to the report as it will create a single database within the ministry that will bare the technical structure of all digital news publishers across the country.
PTI also said that the rules have not been consulted by the stakeholders and “it is an abuse of plenary powers enjoyed by the executive with the clear intent of choking the media, which is an anti-theses to the principles of democracy,” said the report.
Also read | ‘Follow rules if you want to work’: Delhi HC raps Twitter over non-compliance
The news agency also contested the constitutional validity of the rules. “Given the unconstitutional nature of the Rules, we decided that we would challenge them straightaway," Wasim Beg, partner at L&L Partners that is representing PTI, told Forbes India.
The lawsuit differs from that of the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), whose members include the digital wings of publishers and news channels such like the Times Group, India Today Group, NDTV as it argues that digital media as a concept has not been defined under the IT. “If the parent act has not defined digital media, the delegated legislation can’t look to govern it,” Forbes India quoted Beg as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi high court refused to grant interim protection to PTI against coercive action by the government but issued notice to the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), and the ministry of information and broadcasting.
