The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), a group of 21 publishers from across the media spectrum, including ones owned by the Ambani and Adani groups, said the Central government’s new privacy law will “shut down news rooms and usher in an era of censorship”.
The very objectives of the law did not intend to fetter journalistic freedom exercised by traditional and recognised media houses, who were already regulated by bodies like the Press Council of India. DNPA urged a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to issue notice to the Union government on their plea for a stay of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025.
“We cannot pass ex parte orders of stay,” Chief Justice Kant said. Senior advocate Madhavi Divan and advocate Anuj Tiwari, appearing for DNPA, said the association was not asking for a stay but wanted the Centre to address the court on their plea for an interim stay of the privacy law. The senior counsel said the privacy law was not meant for journalists at all. “They impermissibly restrict the fundamental right to information and freedom of speech and expression,” the petition said. It said publishers, editors, reporters and correspondents were, as a consequence of the law, brought within a regime of notice and prior consent, compelled erasure, and verifiable consent. “Such a power is capable of being turned to the identification and targeting of journalistic sources and is thus constitutionally infirm,” the petition said.
