Editors Guild calls on govt to review draft rules of IT Second Amendment Rules

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India has expressed its deep concern over both the contents and the underlying intent behind the Draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules, 2026 (“Draft Amendments”), which were made public by the Ministry of Electronics and Information

Technology (MeitY) on March 30, with just a fortnight given for comments.

The EGi called on the government to urgently review or recall the draft rules, and engage in more constructive consultations with all sections of stakeholders and take on board valid concerns and objections

``Prima facie, the amended rules and guidelines, whose stated purpose is to “strengthen compliance” and increase the effectiveness of regulatory oversight of content regulation mechanisms under Part III (Code of Ethics relating to Digital Media) of the IT Rules, 2021” appear to arm MeitY with sweeping powers of content regulation, sharply increases the compliance burden on digital intermediaries, and gives the executive overarching powers to block or take down content generated by “non news publishers” and intermediaries.

This will directly infringe the fundamental right to free speech guaranteed to all citizens under the Constitution and will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and the airing of contrarian views, which are fundamental to an open and functional democracy,’’ the Guild said in a statement on Saturday.

Further, the Guild pointed out, sub-rule (4) to Rule 3, which deals with due diligence obligations of intermediaries, now makes it mandatory on the part of intermediaries to comply with “any clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating procedure, code of practice or guideline issued by the ministry, by order in writing”.

The Guild said that failure to comply has been linked to loss of the safe harbour protection extended to intermediaries and platforms for user-generated content, under section 79 of the Information Technology Act.

The absence of due process for the issuance of compliance orders and the complete lack of transparency in the process are deeply concerning.

``Changes to Rule 14(2) and Rule 14(5) in the draft amendment also greatly widen the powers of the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC).

IDC, a central oversight body constituted under Rule 14 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, was specifically created to hear grievances and complaints against digital content.

Now, the IDC has been empowered to deal with and “matter” – a generalisation which arms the body to consider virtually any issue, in the absence of any definition of what constitutes a “matter”. Other provisions devolve rulemaking powers entirely to the executive branch, removing the window for legislative oversight provided under the IT Act,’’ it said.