MeitY notified the amendments to the IT Rules, 2021 on October 28, 2022. In light of the concerns raised by the notified amendments around the freedom of speech and expression of users, we are publishing our Public Brief on the IT Amendment Rules, 2022.
VideoLAN’s URL from which users download the VLC Media Player appears to have been banned by the DoT in India since March 2021. This was done without any prior notice, or affording VideoLAN an opportunity of hearing, which is contrary to the Indian law.
We appealed to the Central Information Commission (‘CIC’), which held hearings on both the RTIs on 20.09.2022. Before the hearing, MTNL reconsidered its stance and informed us that they had blocked 4700 websites in 2020-21. CIC directed DoT to provide copies of the banning orders from 2020-21.
We wrote to the DoT to appreciate their proactiveness in publishing the blocking notifications under court orders and urged them to ensure that executive blocking orders are made publicly available.