Access Now
25 February 2021 | 11:08 am
Access Now is extremely concerned by the alarming new powers the Indian government has granted itself, announcing today,
February 25, its increased control over content on social media platforms. It has finalised an amended set of rules — for immediate publication and implementation — to change how it can regulate internet intermediaries such as social media platforms, and online media sites. The
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules are delegated legislation issued by the Union Government, purportedly under India’s Information Technology Act.
These new rules supersede earlier, controversial guidelines which were
restricted on fundamental rights grounds by the Indian Supreme Court in a 2015 judgement. The original rules aimed to specify the basic due diligence requirements telecom companies, internet service providers (ISPs), online platforms, and other internet intermediaries had to fulfil in order to make use of a qualified immunity for legal liability for user content set in place by Parliament in Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. The new rules, however, focus less on due diligence, and more on the redistribution of power in favour of the government — creating space for potential human rights abuses.