Editors Guild asks govt to recall IT rules

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has voiced its concerns over the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. These will “fundamentally alter” and put “unreasonable restrictions” over digital media, it said.

The Centre had notified the rules a week ago. The EGI has requested the government to recall these rules. The guild said it was deeply concerned about the rules. “They empower the Union Government to block, delete, or modify published news anywhere in the country without any judicial oversight and mandate all publishers to establish a grievance redressal mechanism. Various provisions in these rules can place unreasonable restrictions on digital news media, and consequently media at large.”