The Kerala High Court today issued a notice to the central government on a plea by Live Law Media Private Limited challenging the new rules to regulate digital news media.

MA Rashid, founder of legal news website Live Law, and Manu Sebastian, managing editor of the website, are also petitioners in the case.

“We cannot be prosecuted because of somebody sitting in Delhi deciding the so-called ethical standards,” advocate Santosh Mathew, appearing for the petitioners, told the court.

Justice PV Asha observed while passing the interim order on the petition, “Petitioner is a publisher of law reports and legal literature. Respondents shall not take any coercive action against petitioners with reference to provisions contained in Part 3 of IT Rules.”

Part 3 of the Information Technology Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, prescribes the appointment of a grievance redress officer, a “code of ethics” and a “self-regulation” mechanism for digital news platforms.

Mathew pointed out the Information Technology Act, on which the new rules are based, does not give the government power to regulate digital news media. It is only applicable to intermediaries such as tech companies like Google and Facebook, he argued.

Referring to part 3 of the rules, Mathew pointed out that it is an “irony” to call it self-regulation. “This body has to be registered with the ministry. Before registering, the ministry will take a call if it is acceptable to them,” he said.

In the petition, accessed by Newslaundry, Live Law argues that part 3 of the rules imposes a “disproportionately onerous set of rules” on digital news platforms, which will make the functioning of small or medium sized publishers like Live Law “impossible”.

They have argued that the provision in part three, which empowers a government committee to block or delete content on digital platforms poses an “unreasonable restriction” on free speech guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution.

The plea also takes exception to part 2 of the rules, dealing with tracing the first originator of information on intermediaries like WhatsApp, and private censorship by tech companies, at the cost of penalties. Live Law, which has its official account on Twitter and groups to circulate information on WhatsApp, has submitted in the plea that part 2 of the rules will have a “direct chilling effect” on online speech.