India rejects UN officials’ criticism of new IT rules, calls it ‘highly misplaced’

India on Sunday dismissed criticism of the Centre’s new information technology and social media rules by three United Nations special rapporteurs. They had written to the Indian government on June 11 saying that the new rules do not conform with international human rights, according to The Times of India.

“We would like to recall that restrictions to freedom of expression must never be invoked as a justification for the muzzling of any advocacy of multiparty democracy, democratic tenets and human rights,” the rapporteurs had said in a letter. They had expressed “serious concerns” with certain parts of the legislation, and said that “diligence obligations” placed on intermediaries may lead to “infringement of a wide range of human rights”, the Mint reported.

The rapporteurs said that terms used in the rules like “racially or ethnically objectionable”, “threatens the unity…of India”, “written or published with the intent to mislead or harass a person”, were overly broad and could lead to arbitrary application of the regulations.

They asked the Indian government to carry out a detailed review of the rules and consult on them with all relevant stakeholders.

The letter is written 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…

Read more