News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More

News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More

SUMMARY

This week, two digital news media outlets approached the high courts to challenge the new guidelines

The Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ), a non-profit company that publishes The Wire, petitioned the Delhi High Court, challenging the section of the new guidelines that applies to digital news media

The legal news website LiveLaw challenged the guidelines in the Kerala High Court and was granted an interim stay on any coercive action arising from the imposition of Part III of the new guidelines

Last week, the Supreme Court had remarked that India’s new guidelines for digital media intermediaries ‘lack teeth’, as there is no provision for prosecution or fine. Without legislation, there cannot be an effective control, Justice Bhushan had remarked.

Taking a very different view on the new guidelines, this week, two digital news media outlets approached the high courts to challenge the new guidelines.

The Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ), a non-profit company that publishes The Wire (thewire.in) petitioned the Delhi High Court, challenging the section of the new guidelines that applies to digital news media. The petitioners include MK Venu, director of FIJ and founding editor of The Wire, Mangalam Kesavan, director at FIJ, and Dhanya Rajendran, founder and editor-in-chief, The News Minute.

The petition alleges that the new IT rules are illegal, as they seek to monitor and regulate digital news media portals, even though the parent statute (IT Act, 2000) doesn’t provide such powers to the government.

The petition points out that the IT Act doesn’t provide for the imposition of a TV programme code or regulation of news portals in any manner. However, this is sought to be done through the new IT rules.

The petitioners claim that even Section 69A of the IT Act, which allows the government to issue directions to take down certain content from the internet, doesn’t provide powers to dictate content to news media portals. This is because Section 69A envisages only an ‘agency of the government’ or ‘intermediaries’ as targets of its directions. However, Part III of the new rules, which seeks to set up a three-tier oversight mechanism for the regulation of digital media, goes beyond the legal or regulatory powers that the government has as per the parent IT Act.

The Delhi HC has issued a notice on the matter, giving the Indian government time to file a counter-affidavit. The next hearing on the matter in the Delhi HC will be held on April 16, 2021.

Meanwhile, the legal news website LiveLaw challenged the guidelines in the Kerala High Court and was granted an interim stay on any coercive action arising from the imposition of Part III of the new guidelines.

LiveLaw’s arguments in court were largely the same, that the parent statute — IT Act, 2000 — under which the Intermediary Rules 2021 have been purported to be made, don’t allow the regulation of digital news media.

Prominent Stories This Week

  • The INR 510 Cr initial public offering (IPO) of the online travel portal EaseMyTrip was subscribed 159.33 times by the end of its final day i.e. March 10, 2021. The IPO opened on March 8. For the over 1.5 Cr shares on offer, the IPO received bids for 240.27 Cr equity shares, the subscription data available on exchanges showed.
  • Apple confirmed on Tuesday that it will soon begin manufacturing the iPhone 12 series in India, as the tech giant looks to capitalise on a record sales year in India in 2020.
  • Amazon’s bid to include food delivery in its bouquet of services under the Prime membership label could prompt more cash burn in the market led by Zomato and Swiggy, says a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The report says that Amazon has a chance to break through the duopoly thanks to its deep pockets and experience in playing the long game.
  • The Karnataka HC was hearing two petitions filed by Amazon and Flipkart, which sought to quash a CCI probe ordered against them over alleged violations of competition law. The court asked India’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), whether it had the jurisdiction to order an investigation into the alleged anti-competitive practices of ecommerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon.
  • Reliance Jio may soon add another product to its low-cost bevy of offerings, this time thanks to its partnership with tech giant Google. The company is reportedly developing a low-cost laptop called JioBook, which would run on a version of Android, called JioOS. Currently, the company sells JioPhone, a low-cost 4G-enabled JioPhone running KaiOS. This is besides the company’s 4G network, broadband offerings and a bouquet of digital services.

Stay tuned for next week’s News Roundup.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.

You have reached your limit of free stories
Become An Inc42 Plus Member

Become a Startup Insider in 2024 with Inc42 Plus. Join our exclusive community of 10,000+ founders, investors & operators and stay ahead in India’s startup & business economy.

2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Unlock 60% OFF
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Unlock 50% OFF
Cancel Anytime
Already A Member?
Discover Startups & Business Models

Unleash your potential by exploring unlimited articles, trackers, and playbooks. Identify the hottest startup deals, supercharge your innovation projects, and stay updated with expert curation.

News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More-Inc42 Media
How-To’s on Starting & Scaling Up

Empower yourself with comprehensive playbooks, expert analysis, and invaluable insights. Learn to validate ideas, acquire customers, secure funding, and navigate the journey to startup success.

News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More-Inc42 Media
Identify Trends & New Markets

Access 75+ in-depth reports on frontier industries. Gain exclusive market intelligence, understand market landscapes, and decode emerging trends to make informed decisions.

News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More-Inc42 Media
Track & Decode the Investment Landscape

Stay ahead with startup and funding trackers. Analyse investment strategies, profile successful investors, and keep track of upcoming funds, accelerators, and more.

News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More-Inc42 Media
News Roundup: Digital News Media Outlets Go To Court Against IT Guidelines & More-Inc42 Media
You’re in Good company