On New IT Rules, Setback For Centre In Supreme Court - And In Kerala

News publishers allege the new rules infringe upon basic constitutional rights including freedom of the press, and are designed to enable the government a far tighter grip over online news content. More regulation of this large and growing space is needed, the government has countered.

The IT Rules were extensively defended by Ravi Shankar Prasad as the Information Technology Minister and Prakash Javadekar, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting; both men were removed from the cabinet in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's humongous overhaul of his council of ministers two days ago.

The new IT Rules, the government says, are required to regulate content on social media and to ensure that all online news complies with the law. Included in the new requirements is that companies like WhatsApp break end-to-end encryption to identify who was the first sender (or who first forwarded a message) of any content that threatens national security. The government says that this demand will be made only sparingly; WhatApp has challenged this part of the new laws in court, arguing that it would mean an invasion of privacy of its users and that a law like this needs the approval of parliament.

Twitter, which has clashed with the centre over its request to remove a hash tag related to the farmers' protests earlier this year, and then over content posted by the Opposition Congress, faces several police cases now for its failure to obey the new rules, particularly over the appointment of residents of India as executives who are liable for the platform's content and serve as compliance and grievance redressal officers.

New IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said yesterday that Twitter, like other international companies, will have to obey all Indian laws if it wants to operate here. The government has argued recently in court that Twitter no longer has liability protection against user-generated content in India as it has failed to comply with the new rules. The government is free to take action against the company in case of any breach of the rules, the Delhi High Court said yesterday.

The IT Rules say a committee of ministers will have final veto rights over content deemed problematic for law and order or security, and can order its removal.

News publishers have argued that existing laws already provide for criminal prosecution if they break rules on posting child pornography, or running content that incites communal hatred or violence, etc. They say that they are governed sufficiently by self-regulatory bodies which are headed by former Supreme Court judges; giving final decision-making rights for penalties or removal of content to the government encroaches on judicial, impartial oversight.

The IT rules have been challenged in the Kerala High Court today by the News Broadcasters Association which comprises of some of the country's biggest news networks. The court gave a temporary order in favour of the publishers, asking that no coercive action be taken against them if they do not comply for now with the IT Rules. Other news industry and media associations have filed similar appeals in other courts. The centre had asked the Supreme Court to club all these petitions together and hear the matter in Delhi.

The top court today refused to do that for now, stating it will hear the matter next on July 16. For now, the cases against the IT Rules can therefore be heard.

The IT Rules ask for content deemed unlawful to be removed urgently from platforms, for companies to appoint executives who accept liability for any problematic content, and for complaints by any online user to receive an urgent response.