On October 28, 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) notified the Amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules, 2021”). The notified rules, i.e. the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022 (“IT Amendment Rules, 2022”) have introduced changes in Part I and II of the IT Rules, 2021. As a result of these amendments, the compliance burden on intermediaries, and as an extension the risk to their safe harbour protections, has increased. Further, MeitY has introduced an additional layer of censorship, wherein government-appointed committees will have a say in what content stays up on the internet, and what doesn’t. We are releasing our Public Brief on the IT Amendment Rules, 2022 in public interest as these rules affect the democratic and constitutional rights of each and every internet user.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/public-brief-on-the-it-amendment-rules-2022/