Delhi HC seeks Centre's reply on plea challenging new digital media rules

NEW DELHI: A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh of the Delhi high court on Tuesday sought the Centre's response on a plea challenging the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which seeks to regulate digital news media.

The bench issued notices to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Technology and granted them time to file their response.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism which said that the new IT Rules issued by the government on February 25 are palpably illegal in seeking to control and regulate digital news media when the parent statue IT Act nowhere provides for such a remit.

The plea said it has profound and serious harms for digital news media, like the petitioner, and destructive of their rights. It sought to declare the 'IT Rules as void and inoperative insofar as it defines and applies to publishers of news and current affairs content.

Announcing the new OTT/digital/social media policy Government had said that it was done amidst growing concerns around lack of transparency, accountability and rights of users related to digital media and after elaborate consultation with the public and stakeholders.  

"The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 has been framed in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011," the government said in a press release.

Besides Foundation for Independent Journalism, the other two petitioners are its director and founding editor of The Wire Mangalam Kesavan Venu and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute Dhanya Rajendran.