The Press Club of India (PCI), the Indian Women’s Press Corp (IWPC), the Editors Guild of India (EGI), the Delhi Journalists Union (DJU) and DIGIPUB have jointly organized an open meeting on 21 April at 4 pm at the PCI lawns in New Delhi, to express their concern over the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, set to be notified soon by the government of India.
Experts who have studied the Act’s clauses will address how some of the legislation’s terms are likely to hinder journalists in carrying out their professional work.
“Our biggest concern about the Act is the penalty clause of a whopping Rs 250 crore, which can go up to Rs 500 crore, against an individual or entity if the DPDP Board that the government would appoint deems fit,” Gautam Lahiri, president of the Press Club of India, said in a statement.
“Worldwide, such laws exempt journalists, and we endeavor to ensure this Act exempts the professional work of journalists. We are hoping to seek an appointment with the minister concerned for a meeting at the earliest to take forward the joint decisions taken at the open meeting on the matter,” he said..
Lahiri said this is a joint fight for press freedom and they would go ahead with the aid and advice of all stakeholders and if needed, reach out to press clubs in other parts of the country to make their voice stronger.
The move has stirred up a controversy with the Editors Guild earlier warning that the Data Act, “ which ostensibly promotes data protection, failed to make any provisions that bring about the surveillance reform that is urgently needed.” On the contrary, it creates an enabling framework for the surveillance of citizens, including journalists and their sources, the Guild said.
