DNPA moves Supreme Court over DPDP Act's missing journalist protections
India's DPDP Act has news organizations on edge because it doesn't include special rules for journalists.
The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which represents 21 media outlets, has taken the issue to the Supreme Court.
They're concerned that without these exemptions, reporting, especially investigative stories, could get much harder or even face pre-censorship.
The Supreme Court has now asked the government to respond by November 17.
Consent rules could alert investigation subjects
The DNPA argues that rules requiring consent and notification before using personal data could tip off people being investigated, hurting important journalism work.
They point out that earlier drafts of the law had protections for journalists, but those were dropped.
Aashutosh Srivastava says the issue should be examined in the context of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says press freedom is still protected and welcomes more talks with media groups.