Don’t take free speech curbs too far: Rethink the proposed amendments to India’s internet rules
On 30 March, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) published draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2021, which, if passed, will have far-reaching consequences for internet users in India. While each of the three primary amendment proposals does something different, together they will transform the internet from a rules-based regime into one governed by discretion.
Though they may seem benign, their bite could be worse than their bark.The new Rule 14(2) would expand the powers of the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) from hearing just “complaints and grievances” to “any matter” referred directly by the ministry. Rule 8 takes things further by not just expanding adjudicatory power, but who is subject to it—from ‘publishers’ to anyone who posts about news online.
But both these pale in relation to Rule 3(4), which reshapes the source of legal authority.Let’s go through each provision to better understand how they will all affect us.Let us start with Rule 14. Through a set of innocuous adjustments, sub-rule (2) will significantly expand the powers of the IDC.
From being an apex appellate body in a three-tier complaint-resolution mechanism for violations of the Code of Ethics, it could become a super-regulator with the power to hear just about “any matter” that the ministry refers to it.There are two problems with this. First, since the IDC would have the power to rule on anything the ministry sends it, the recommendations it issues could well exceed the statutory authority under which it was created.
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