New Delhi, May 2 (TOI): Urging the government to withdraw its order to create “additional rules for regulation of online content”, a group of over 100 journalists on Tuesday wrote to Union information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani.
In a letter to Irani, the journalists have said the move seeks to “impinge upon the individual citizen’s freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution,” and at the same time also, “opens up the possibility of widespread abuse and attempts to suppress political dissent by the government and/or the regulating agency.” The ministry, in an April 4 order, said it had decided to constitute a committee to frame rules to regulate news portals and media websites.
The order had attributed the move to the absence of “norms or guidelines to regulate the online media websites and news portals”, and said the government-appointed committee should “frame and suggest a regulatory framework for online media/ news portals including digital broadcasting and entertainment/ infotainment sites and news/ media aggregators.”
Countering the arguments in the ministry’s order, the letter sought to deny the assertion that there are no norms for content on the internet. It also objected to the ministry’s position that online content “needs to be brought under regulation on the lines applicable to print and electronic media.”
The letter to the minister said, “Our position is that online content is different from print and television content, because most of it is produced by individual citizens in exercise of their constitutional right to freedom of expression, and embodies two way communication and interactivity, and not just publishing. Online, it is also difficult to distinguish between publishing and communications. Much of online content is borne out of an individual’s need to express opinions and exercise artistic freedom, protected by Article 19 of the Indian Constitution....Therefore, restrictions that do not apply to offline speech cannot be used to control online speech either. On the other hand, provisions that apply to offline behavior — such as the IPC — are equally applicable, and regularly applied, to online content.