feeds from sacw.net
print versionThe Editors Guild of India
Press Statement
20th September 2024
The Editors Guild of India welcomes the verdict of the Bombay High Court, striking down the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, as unconstitutional, specifically Rule 3, which sought to empower the Central government to form a Fact-Check Units (FCUs) to identify "fake and misleading" information about its business on social media platforms.
Pronouncing the order, Justice Chandurkar opined that “the amendments are violative of Article 14 and Article 19 of the Constitution of India,". He further opined that the amendments also violated Article 21 and did not satisfy the "test of proportionality". The matter was referred to the third judge after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Dr. Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict in January 2024, with Justice Patel striking down rules as unconstitutional and Justice Gokhale upholding their validity.
The IT Amendment Rules, 2023 were notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on April 6, 2023. Along with various regulations concerning online gaming, the amendment also granted authority to a “fact check unit of the Central Government” to categorise and remove any online content pertaining to “any business of the Central Government” that is deemed “fake, false, or misleading.”
The Editors Guild had raised its concerns in its statement dated April 7, 2023, stating that “amendments to the IT Rules will have deeply adverse implications for press freedom in the country”.
In June 2023, Guild filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, challenging the constitutional validity of this provision for being ultra vires the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000), and violating the right to freedom of speech and expression. Guild’s petitions were filed along with other petitions challenging the amendments, by political satirist Kunal Kamra, Association of Indian Magazines, and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association.
The Editors Guild of India deeply appreciates the help of the legal team that has spearheaded this effort. The petition was settled and argued by Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat along with Advocates Natasha Maheshwari, Hrishika Jain, and Niharika. The petition was filed by the Bombay counsel Bimal Rajshekhar. The Guild also congratulates and thanks all the other petitioners and their legal teams.
Regards,
Anant Nath, President
Ruben Banerjee, General Secretary
K Ve Prasad, Treasurer
