Press organizations pass resolution against new media laws

The Press Club of India, after a consultative meeting with India’s leading press bodies and digital rights organizations held on 28 May 2024, passed a resolution, demanding the new government to roll back and repeal provisions of various new laws that infringe or curtail press freedom. 

In a press note signed by PCI president Gautam Lahiri and others, the media body urged the government to put in place an institutional mechanism for stakeholders consultation before any future media laws are drafted so that press freedom is not curtailed.

According to the resolution, the sweeping provisions under laws such as the proposed Broadcast Services (Regulation)  Bill, 2023, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023, and more importantly, the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023, which grants authority to the government to remove any online content pertaining to its business that it deems to be false or misleading, are meant to silence the press. 

The Broadcast Services Regulation Bill, 2023, it says, expands regulatory oversight to include OTT platforms and digital content. It will replace the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. It proposes mandatory registration, content evaluation committees for self-regulation, and a three-tier regulatory system. 

The meeting noted that there are apprehensions of control and regulation and may place unreasonable restrictions on the citizens’ right to know. The government, it said, must ensure that the right to know of the people is not trampled upon. The practice of repeated Internet shutdowns impedes both the citizens’ right to information and journalists’ ability to report news, the resolution said. 

The press, the resolution said, must stand up for its rights granted under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution so that it continues to act as an important pillar of our vibrant and inclusive democracy. 

Similarly, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, attempts to define the digital space that it regulates while trying to put more emphasis on data handling. It seeks to protect data from unauthorized access. This meeting notes that breaches and misuse have become a critical concern in the modern digital age. However, an amendment to Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, to align it with Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection  Act, 2023, curtails the crucial section of RTI, which has served as a vital tool for journalists for ferreting out critical information about the functioning of governments and public servants in the public interest, the PCI release said.  

The meeting demanded that the government should either delete or amend all such provisions of the Digital Personal Data Act, 2023, that are intended to weaken the Right to Information Act, 2005.  

The Press Council of India, established by an act of Parliament, should be replaced by a Media Council to include the broadcast and digital media, the signatories said. The Media Council should be empowered to deal with the challenges emanating from a constantly changing media landscape. It should comprise working journalists, representatives of unions, owners and the government. It should be empowered to pass strictures on media houses, publications,  broadcast and digitally published content and owners and take other such measures.  

This meeting also notes with concern the move to repeal the Working Journalist Act and Other Newspaper Employees (Condition Of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 and Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958, which cover a wide range of issues, including wages, working hours, leave, holidays, termination of employment, and redressal of grievances as well as mandate Wage Boards to fix and revise the wages of journalists and other newspaper employees. 

The Act gave protection to journalists, including the security of service. These Acts have been subsumed by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020, which should be withdrawn immediately. “We demand that the two Working Journalists Acts be restored and amended to include broadcast journalists and digital media.”  

With internet users in the country having risen to a whopping 850 million, this meeting appreciated the need for a modern legal framework for the protection of personal data, the freedom of expression and quick and easily accessible grievances redressal mechanism. 

To address the challenges of a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the government has declared its intent to bring in the Digital India Act, which is intended to replace the Information  Technology Act, 2000. On 9 March 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a presentation outlining the scope of the proposed act. 

The meeting demanded that the government should clearly articulate what they perceive as harms/risks, and benefits to people in India on the internet. The government has so far not provided a clear articulation of definitions of an open, safe, trusted, and accountable internet, the resolution said. 

The government, it said, should state/clarify/document where the current legislative framework falls short,  especially since we are in the midst of reforming the criminal justice system laws with legislations that were passed after 146 opposition MPs were suspended. “The government must state clearly whether state intervention required to protect the people of India should take the form of new laws or better redressal mechanisms or improvement of state capacity or a combination of these and other aspects.” 

In the meeting, it was felt that the government should ensure that proposed future laws should not impede press freedom while upholding the right to privacy of citizens. The existing laws and future legislations should not be leveraged to block or takedown legitimate news content across platforms viz. print, television and the internet.

The meeting resolved to urge the government to ensure that all stakeholders are taken on board through institutional processes that will ensure wide consultation when it intends to prepare the working draft of the proposed Digital India Bill.

The meeting resolved that press bodies will continue to seek remedial measures collectively or individually, including legal remedies. 

The resolution was signed by Gurbir Singh, chairman of the Press Club of Mumbai; Snehasis Sur, president, Press Club of Kolkata; Umesh Sharma, secretary, Press Club of Chandigarh; Prateek Waghre, executive director, Internet Freedom Foundation; M Radhakrishnan, secretary, Trivandrum Press Club; Shams Tabrez Qasmi, president, Cogito Media Foundation; Sujata Madhok, president, Delhi Union of Journalists; SN Sinha, president, Working News Cameramen’s Association; Dhanya Rajendran, chairperson, DIGIPUB News India Foundation; Parul Sharma, president, Indian Women’s Press Corps; CK Nayak, president, Press Association; Geetartha Pathak, president, Indian Journalist Union; Balbir Singh Jandu, secretary, Indian Journalist Union, and Suhas Borker, convener Jan Prasar.