Data Act is a threat to journalism Media Houses Move Supreme Court

Leading media houses in the country have approached the Supreme Court alleging that key provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 have become a threat to the survival of journalism. The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the central government on the petition. The petitioners have expressed concern that not giving special exemptions to journalism will lead to serious obstruction of investigative reporting, deletion of published news and disclosure of confidential sources.

The petition was filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which represents 21 leading media houses in the country. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joy Mallya Bagchi and Justice V. The petition was heard by a bench headed by Justice K Mohana. The court refused to grant an interim stay on the law without hearing the central government's arguments. CJI Surya Kant said there is a need to strike a balance between the rights of citizens and the rights of the media. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 17 along with other petitions already pending.

Senior advocate Madhavi Diwan, appearing forthe DNPA, said the law was "pre-censorship". "If you want to write a news story and you have to wait for the permission of the people involved, the concept of news is no longer meaningful. This law will shut down newsrooms," she told the court. She recalled that there were exceptions for journalism in the draft data protection laws brought in the past, but these were removed in the final law.