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Prateek Waghre

Prateek Waghre

IT Rules amendments, 2023

IT Amendment Rules, 2023 are a nightmare, dressed like a fact checking daydream

The notified IT Amendment Rules, 2023 regulate online gaming and misinformation. They provide for the establishment of a fact check unit (“FCU”), by the Union government, to fact check online information related to the Union government. In this Public Brief, we analyse the hits and misses.
21 April, 2023
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
Budget 2023

Budget Session 2023: A Digital Rights Review

The Budget Session was adjourned sine die on April 06, 2023 in both Houses of Parliament amidst protests from the Opposition and treasury benches. In this post, we take a look at the disruptions during the Session, and analyse how the Parliament fared with respect to digital rights.
14 April, 2023
10 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
IT Amendment Rules

Statement on the notification of the IT Amendment Rules, 2023

IFF's statement on the notified IT Amendment Rules, 2023, in relation to online gaming and fact checking by a government unit. Read our concerns regarding the impact on online free speech here.
06 April, 2023
2 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
IT Amendment Rules

1 month of the GAC felt like a lifetime! We wrote to them seeking answers.

MeitY established three Grievance Appellate Committee(s) (“GAC”) on January 27, 2023 under Rule 3A of the notified IT Amendment Rules, 2022. We wrote to the Chairpersons of the three Committees, seeking clarification about the GAC’s establishment and functioning.
05 April, 2023
3 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
internet shutdowns

Digital censorship in Punjab: internet shutdowns and account suspensions

Internet services in Punjab were shut down from March 18 till March 21 (in some districts till March 24). Reportedly, around 120 twitter accounts were suspended/ withheld. We wrote to the Punjab government and MeitY raising concerns about the internet shutdown and withheld accounts, respectively.
31 March, 2023
4 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
TRAI

Climb off the mandatory activation TRAIn

In this post, we analyse the 40 comments submitted in response to TRAI's consultation paper titled ‘Consultation Paper on Introduction of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) in Telecommunication Networks’, highlighting privacy concerns, especially in the absence of a data protection law.
28 March, 2023
6 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
IT Rules, 2021

A Silver Lining? We wrote to the Rajya Sabha Committee ahead of its consideration of the IT Rules, 2021

The Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation is meeting on March 27, 2023, to consider the IT Rules, 2021 and its subsequent amendments. We wrote to them expressing our gratitude for their consideration of the Rules, while citing our concerns as well as the impact on online free speech.
27 March, 2023
5 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
UNESCO

Our comments on Draft 2.0 of the UNESCO Guidelines on Regulating Digital Platforms

We submitted our comments on draft 2.0 of the UNESCO Guidelines on Regulating Digital Platforms (“Guidelines”) on March 08, 2023. Having participated in the consultation for draft 1.1 of the Guidelines, we built upon our existing comments and inserted additional analysis.
13 March, 2023
4 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
ONDC

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC): An Explainer

‘Open Network for Digital Commerce’ (ONDC) is a government backed, network-centric, technology infrastructure. In this explainer we expand on what ONDC is, how it works, what the stated promises and potential challenges are, especially regarding ONDC's capability to address market issues.
10 March, 2023
9 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
BBCDocumentary

Censorship, Surveys, and Seizures: Developments around the BBC Documentary

The MIB banned re-sharing & uploading of links of the BBC Documentary using emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021. The Income Tax Department carried out 3 day long survey operations at the BBC India offices in Delhi & Mumbai. We elaborate on our concerns with these actions in this post.
03 March, 2023
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre

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