New Delhi: The Supreme Court is considering transferring all cases about new IT rules for social media. The apex court looks forward to giving a combined hearing of all pending cases of digital media rules.
The Centre filed the plea at the apex court requesting for a transfer petition, days after the Bombay High Court put on hold a part of new rules that seek to regulate content on digital news websites.
On August 16, the Bombay High Court put on hold the implementation of rules which required digital news media to compulsorily follow the code of conduct laid down by the Press Council of India, a self-regulating press watchdog, and the country's cable TV code.
Numerous cases are pending across different courts of India, with many of them challenging the new IT rules for social media.
The Centre had notified new, stricter guidelines for social media intermediaries that would make it mandatory for platforms such as WhatsApp, to aid in identifying the “originator” of “unlawful” messages.
It will also require the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to take down such messages within a specific time frame, set up grievance redressal mechanisms as well as assist government agencies in the investigation.
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