Apar GuptaThe Ministry of Information and Technology (MeitY) has issued a notification dated 25th February 2021 that specifies fifty lakh registered users in India as the threshold for a social media intermediary to be considered a significant social media intermediary.
MeitY releases Intermediary Guidelines, 2021
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has released Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021.
Shutting Down Digital Square
The growing digitisation of Indian society is reflective in the ongoing protests by farmers. Battles are being waged every day in gram sabhas and protest sites as well on social media. Each day on Twitter, a new hashtag trends for and against the farm laws, or farm leaders, or the promoters of leading Indian conglomerates, leaders of Opposition and even the Prime Minister. This conversation is public, chaotic but also democratic. In this adversarial contest, a recent government direction was issued to the social media platform, ordering it to shut down user accounts connected with these protests. This direction presents a clear breach of fundamental rights but also reveals a complex relationship between the government and large platforms on the understanding of the Constitution of India.
India joins Five Eyes alliance advocating for backdoor entry to E2E platforms
In Re Prashant Bhushan, Twitter Communications India Pvt. Ltd.
On August 20, 2020, the Supreme Court of India held public interest lawyer Prashant Bhushan in contempt for two tweets that criticized the judiciary and the Chief Justice. The Court found that the tweets undermined the authority of the Supreme Court and were detrimental to public trust in the judiciary. Bhushan was fined a nominal amount of INR 1. The Court’s decision, while symbolic in its punishment, highlights the judiciary’s stance on protecting its institutional integrity and the limits it places on public criticism.