The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has written to Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, to express concerns over legislative measures taken in recent years to “control media”, including print, broadcast, and digital platforms. The Guild called for renewed debate and consultation on these issues and urged Gandhi to raise matters of press freedom and the right to information in Parliament.
The Editors Guild stated that it has been steadfast in its mission to uphold and protect the freedom of the press, a cornerstone of our democracy.
In a letter to Gandhi, the EGI stated that in recent years, however, this fundamental freedom has come under increasing threat due to several legislative measure passed by the government. Over the past few years, several legislative steps have been taken to regulate and control media, in the online space, broadcast, print, as well as via telecom sector. Some of these have already been enacted in the Parliament, while others were introduced as bills.
In some cases, these regulatory systems have been in the for of rules under already existing Acts, specifically the IT Rule 2021, as well the subsequent amendment in 2023, under the IT Act 2000.
“Our general concern in all these legislative measures is that we were taken without adequate stakeholder consultation and parliamentary scrutiny in the drafting and passing of these laws. They carry provisions that are vague and overboard, which could be misused to restrict legitimate journalistic activities. These provisions give sweeping powers to a wide array of government authorities and agencies to take actions that can have potential chilling effect on journalism and press freedom due to increased government control and punitive measures. There are inadequate safeguard for press independence and freedom of expression,” EGI said.
Even though some of them have been enacted in the Parliament, EGI highlighted these concerns with an urgent request for driving renewed parliamentary debate and stakeholder consultation on these critical issues affecting press freedom, as well as to safeguard press freedom in any new legislative measure that will have a potential to control media.
The following summary highlights EGI’s major concerns with respect to the recent laws impacting online space, broadcast space, telecom and print media:
“The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, notified in 2023, this aims to regulate the processing of personal data to ensure the privacy of individuals. However, its provisions raise significant concerns regarding press freedom including lack of exemptions for journalistic activities, consent requirements, onerous obligations, government powers, impact on RTI, Surveillance concerns and censorship powers,” EGI mentioned.
The Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2023, seeks to regulate broadcasting services in India. The proposed regulatory framework, however, presents multiple challenges to press freedom including overbearing regulatory structure, vague grounds for content restriction, excessive rule-making powers, intrusive powers, censorship concerns, burdensome compliance and punitive measures.
The EGI said, “Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023 aims to update the regulatory framework for the registration of periodicals. Its provisions, however, threaten press independence and the concerns include expanded regulatory powers, restrictions on publishing, intrusive authority and ambiguous rule-making.”
IT Rules 2021, and subsequent amendments to it in 2023. The rules mandated a three tiered structure grievance redressal system for digital news media outlets to comply with. The first two tiers were self-regulatory, but the third one was in the form of an Inter-Ministerial Group, headed by a bureaucrat, with powers to delete, modify, and block content published by digital news media.
The Guild had raised concerns when the rules were instituted that this would be akin to censorship. Over these past few years, there have been several instances where such powers were used by the government to order take down of content that was at times critical of government policies and actions, EGI stated.
Later, in 2023, as amendment was notified in these Rules on April 6, 2023, giving the government the power to constitute a “fact-checking unit: with sweeping authority to determine what is “fake or false or misleading” regarding any business of the Central Government and instruct intermediaries not to host such content. This absolute power lacked a governing mechanism for oversight, judicial review, or adherence to Supreme Court guidelines on content blocking, effectively leading to censorship. The Guild has challenged this amendment in the Bombay High Court, and the fact checking unit itself has been stayed by the Supreme Court.
“The Editors Guild of India urges your good self to raise these pressing issues in the Parliament and advocate for amendments that ensure the protection of press freedom and the right to information. We believe that a free and independent press is vital for the health of our democracy, and it is imperative that these legislative measures are revisited to safeguard these fundamental principles,” EGI added.
