These three stakeholders seem to have contributed to such a robustly-worded policy change in the IT Act 2000. Lawyers, privacy activists, technology researchers as well as academicians have mapped the need for balancing the trade-off between regulating unlawful content and safeguarding privacy on digital platforms. The draft rules hinge upon compressing the right to free speech and expression, extending State control and formulating procedures for the intermediaries to ardently follow orders of government agencies. These episodes have undoubtedly curated the need of policy formulation to regulate unlawful content in the rapidly expanding digital space. The new proposal, however, undermines the fundamental right to free speech, which is an essential constitutional guarantee.

Source: The Telegraph February 08, 2019 05:25 UTC