PCI Calls Govt Takedowns of Critical Content ‘Arbitrary’, Unconstitutional
New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) has expressed grave concern over the recent expresses grave concern over the recent spate of takedown orders issued across social media platforms targeting content critical of the government, where creators have been blocked or their material removed.
In a statement issued on Wednesday (April 1), the managing committee of the PCI has termed the move as both “arbitrary and violative of the Constitution.”
“Such executive actions amount to a denial of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), as ruled by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal vs Union of India, where the court struck down vague provisions enabling arbitrary online censorship for lacking precise nexus to constitutional restrictions and creating a chilling effect,” said the PCI in the statement.
The statement added that in the last few days, authorities have issued fresh takedown orders to Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), targeting fact-checker Mohammed Zubair and news outlets Molitics and National Dastak. Earlier, in March, the YouTube account of 4PM News had been blocked, it added.
“More recently, on Facebook, pages of Molitics, National Dastak (with over 1.4 million followers), and satirist Rajeev Nigam were blocked in India following takedown requests under the IT Act, displaying notices that content was removed due to violations of Indian laws. On X, Zubair reportedly received notification that multiple posts were blocked nationwide per a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) order under Section 69A, though the specific content wasn’t detailed,” the PCI said.
The statement added that this latest wave of actions continues a pattern against critical voices. Earlier, National Dastak had previously faced YouTube restrictions blamed on tax authorities, it added.
“The PCI Managing Committee strongly opposes these instances of blatant executive overreach and demands that the authorities respect citizens’ and journalists’ fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in and protected by Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution. The opacity in the process (with no reasons provided for the takedown requests) makes this online censorship both arbitrary and violative of the Constitution,” said the statement.
On March 30, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to block news content on social media by users, influencers and content creators, in a move that has been described by advocacy groups as “digital authoritarianism.” The proposed amendments seek to strengthen a system that has been in the works for years, to consolidate in effect a digital censorship regime.
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