As the queue of companies, social media giants, and various media bodies form in front of the High Courts against the new IT Rules issued by the IT ministry, the centre has come up with its own rebuttal. The centre approached the SC asking for a transfer of all the petitions being filed across the country in various high courts to the Supreme Court. The government also asked for a stay in the proceedings which were ongoing regarding the new IT rules and its opposition. However, the SC has denied the centre this privilege and has not stopped any petition proceedings so far.
Twitter Moving Ahead with Compliance Officer
The most that the SC has done for the centre is that it has tagged the plea for the transfer petition with the said special leave petition. It is worth noting that the new IT rules have caused a lot of havoc in the media circles. With the word “intermediary” being in the most negative limelight. Twitter has been one social media company that has been in open defiance with the law since the beginning. However, finally, even Twitter seems to be coming around to this as it has talked about appointing compliance, grievance and nodal officer soon with the job listing out now.
NBA Now Opposing New IT Rules
In the latest development, the News Broadcasters Association which includes hotshots from the current affairs broadcasting industry has also filed a writ petition in the Kerala HC against the new IT rules. In the petition, it was noted that the new IT rules are violative of some of the foundational values of the Constitution which are Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) granting freedom of speech and freedom to practise and profession. The petition also highlighted the rules being violative of the parent IT Act as well. Now it remains to be seen how the upper court takes up the proceedings in this regard.
