Amendments to IT Rules Do Not Offer Protection to Parody, Satire: Bombay High Court

The amendments to the Information Technology Guidelines, prima facie, don’t appear to protect parody and satire, the Bombay Excessive Courtroom mentioned on Monday whereas listening to a petition filed by slapstick comedian Kunal Kamra.

The HC bench additionally mentioned Kamra’s petition difficult the amendments was maintainable.

On April 6, the Union authorities promulgated sure amendments to the Data Know-how (Middleman Pointers and Digital Media Ethics Code) Guidelines, 2021, together with a provision of a truth verify unit to establish pretend or false or deceptive on-line content material associated to the federal government.

Kamra, in his petition, claimed the brand new guidelines may doubtlessly result in his content material being arbitrarily blocked or his social media accounts being suspended or deactivated, thus harming him professionally.

He has sought that the court docket declares the amended guidelines unconstitutional and provides a course to the federal government to restrain from taking motion in opposition to any particular person beneath the foundations.

The Union authorities, in an affidavit filed in court docket, had “reiterated that the function of the very fact verify unit is restricted to any enterprise of the Central authorities, which can embody details about insurance policies, programmes, notifications, guidelines, laws, implementation thereof, and so on”.

“The very fact verify unit could solely establish pretend or false or deceptive data and never any opinion, satire or inventive impression. Due to this fact, the purpose of the federal government with regard to the introduction of the impugned provision is explicitly clear and suffers from no purported arbitrariness or unreasonableness as alleged by the petitioner (Kamra),” the Centre’s affidavit additional contended.

On Monday, a division bench of Justices GS Patel and Neela Gokhale, whereas listening to the plea, mentioned, prima facie, the foundations do not appear to protect truthful criticism of the federal government like parody and satire.

“You aren’t affecting parody, satire, that’s what your affidavit says. That isn’t what your guidelines say. There isn’t any safety granted. That we should see,” Justice Patel orally remarked.

The Centre had additionally mentioned the very fact verify unit has not but been notified by the federal government and, therefore, arguments made within the petition (by Kamra) relating to its functioning would not have any foundation and had been “untimely and beneath mere misconceptions of the petitioner”.

Nevertheless, the bench mentioned the argument that the problem is “untimely” can be incorrect.

The court docket will hear the matter additional on April 27.

As per the amendments, intermediaries reminiscent of social media firms should act in opposition to content material recognized by the very fact verify unit or threat shedding their “protected harbour” protections beneath Part 79 of the IT Act.

“Protected harbour” protections permit intermediaries to keep away from liabilities for what third events put up on their web sites.