[IT Rules 2021] India's Constitution guarantees Freedom of speech & expression, pillars of democracy robust & thriving: India takes tough stand against UN Special Rapporteurs letter

After the United Nations Special Rapporteurs wrote to the Government of India expressing concerns about the recently notified IT Rules 2021 & criticised certain provisions on grounds on being arbitrary and irrational, the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations office took a tough stand against the criticism.

India highlighted that her Constitution guarantees Freedom of Speech & Expression, her judiciary is independent, media robust & her democratic principles are well recognised.

"The permanent Mission of India would like to inform that the MEITY & MIB undertook broad consultations in 2018 with various stakeholders, including individuals, civil society, industry association and organisations and invited public comments to prepare the draft rules," the communication stated, added that the IT Rules had only been passed after the same.

The communication by the UN stated that that Article 19 of the International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights (ICCPR) protects the rights of everyone to freedom of opinion without interference and that since India was a signatory to the covenant, it had a duty to uphold the same.

The letter added that terms such as “racially or ethnically objectionable", “harmful to child", “impersonates another person", threatens the unity...of India", “is patently false and untrue", “is written or published with the intent to mislead or harass a person…" were overly broad and “lacked sufficiently clear definitions".

The communication further added that the terms used in the IT rules were overly broad and lacked clear definitions which may lead to arbitrary application.

“We are concerned that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, in their current form, do not conform with international human rights norms," it said. “We would therefore encourage the Government to take all necessary steps to carry out a detailed review of the Rules and to consult all relevant stakeholders, including civil society dealing with human rights, freedom of expression, privacy rights and digital rights," it added.

The report by the UN been authored by Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Joseph Cannataci, Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy.