Catergory

intermediary

Featured

May threaten 'independence of media' and violate freedom of speech: Madras HC on the IT Rules

Madras High Court finds merit in Mr Krishna’s contention that Part II of the Rules violated the right to speech, and held that any action taken under Rule 3 read with Rule 7 shall be subject to the decision in the petition. The Court has also affirmed the previous stay on Rule 9.

17 September, 2021

6 min read

Krishnesh Bapat,

Anandita Mishra &

Tanmay Singh

Access to Information

Featured

MeitY blocks information about Actor Sushant Singh’s account takedown

Twitter unilaterally and arbitrarily suspended the account of Sushant Singh (@sushant_says) twice, i.e. on February 1 and May 26, 2021. We helped him file RTI requests with the Meity, DoT and MHA. Meity invoked the 2009 Blocking Rules and the RTI Act to deny information to Mr. Singh.

30 August, 2021

5 min read

Tanmay Singh

ITRules

Featured

The Government again seeks time to respond to Mr T.M. Krishna’s petition

In proceedings instituted by Mr TM Krishna, challenging the validity of IT Rules, 2021, the Madras High Court directed the government to explain why appropirate action should not be taken against those responsible for the delay in their filing. The case is now listed for 13th August 2021.

11 August, 2021

4 min read

Krishnesh Bapat

big tech

Featured

Big Tech releases its transparency reports in compliance with the IT Rules: Here’s what we found

Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter have released their transparency reports in compliance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (the 2021 IT Rules).

16 July, 2021

6 min read

Tanmay Singh

Censorship

Featured

Was your handle blocked without warning? Here’s what you can do.

Incidents of arbitrary censorship of online speech have significantly risen in the recent past. We are frequently asked what can be done if one’s account is blocked. We have prepared a step by step explainer to navigate situations of arbitrary account blockings.

12 July, 2021

5 min read

Yashaswini

it act

Featured

Union of India seeks a transfer of cases challenging IT Rules, 2021

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has listed the Union of India's transfer petition before another bench on 16th July 2021. The petition seeks a transfer to the Supreme Court of 4 cases challenging IT Rules, 2021 which are pending before different High Courts.

09 July, 2021

4 min read

Krishnesh Bapat &

Tanmay Singh

Censorship

Twitter must apply its own policies transparently and consistently when suspending users’ accounts

Twitter unilaterally and arbitrarily suspended the account of Sushant Singh (@sushant_says) twice. He sent a formal representation to Twitter highlighting issues with Twitter’s policies and actions, relating to transparency, free expression and consistency, and urged an open dialogue on its policy.

23 June, 2021

5 min read

Tanmay Singh

Censorship

Madras High Court issues notice in petition challenging the Intermediary Rules 2021 by T. M. Krishna

Madras High issued notice on a writ petition by T.M. Krishna challenging the Intermediary Rules 2021.

10 June, 2021

4 min read

Tanmay Singh

big tech

MEITY has no legal basis to ask social media platforms to remove content in middle of India's COVID crisis!

MEITY has written letters to social media platforms. These letters ask platforms to remove content. We write to MEITY asking them to withdraw these letters as they do not have a legal basis and they curb speech.

22 May, 2021

5 min read

Krishnesh Bapat