Underlining the right to freedom of speech and expression as critical in a democracy, the Madras High Court on Thursday stayed the operation of a key provision of the Information Technology Rules, 2021, enacted in May, that set up an oversight mechanism by the Central government to regulate social media and digital media platforms. “Prima facie, there is substance to the petitioner’s grievance that the oversight mechanism to control the media by the Government may rob the media of its independence and the fourth pillar of democracy may not at all be there, Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavulu observed while staying the operation of Rule 9(1) and 9(3) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Rule 9 of the IT Rules prescribe a grievance redressal mechanism and sub-Section 1 establishes a portal to be set up by the Ministry of Information and Technology for receiving complaints against media platforms while under sub-Section 3, an acknowledgment of every complaint is generated within 24 hours of receiving the complaint, which is then referred to the media platform concerned and the IT ministry for record.
