Indian Publishers Move Supreme Court to Protect Press Freedom
Leading news outlets and media groups in India have gone to the Supreme Court against the country’s controversial data privacy law. They say the law will hit press freedom hard if it comes into force. They also say it will create a permanent system of pre-censorship, which means censoring news before it is published, and this could force many news outlets to shut down.
On Tuesday, 27 October, 21 leading news publishers under the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) took part in the challenge at India’s top court. These include media companies owned by Mr. Mukesh Ambani and Mr. Gautam Adani. Lawyer Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan spoke for the petitioners at the hearing. She said the new law changes the very meaning of news. She said that if reporters must first take permission from the subject or the person involved, it is no longer journalism and becomes full censorship.
The petitioners listed three main concerns. The first is the duty to take consent. DNPA argues that if reporters must ask permission while investigating corruption or crime, the accused persons will get a chance to destroy evidence or scare witnesses. The second is the risk to the right to protect sources. The law lets the government order any organisation to hand over personal data, so journalists may be forced to reveal their confidential sources. This could stop whistleblowers from exposing corruption or abuse of power in the future.
The third concern is data erasure and penalties. Under the law, any person can ask at any time to delete their personal data, so publishers may have to drop true stories even when they serve the public interest. The law also gives the central government the power to block any online information or news in the name of the public interest. The Supreme Court of India said it will hold the next hearing of this case next month.
Experts see this legal fight as a very important turning point for press freedom in India. They say so because India’s position in the international Press Freedom Index keeps falling. This report is based on Al Jazeera.
