India's Supreme Court Tuesday ordered the government to respond to a challenge by news publishers who argue that new data privacy rules threaten press freedom.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government introduced rules last year to implement a personal data protection law, but critics say their sweeping scope risks undermining public interest reporting.
The new rules "fail to provide any exemption for journalistic activity" and "threaten the full spectrum of journalistic activity," a petition from the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) said. The DNPA represents some of India's biggest news organizations.
Members include Network18, part of the Reliance conglomerate led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani and NDTV, owned by the Adani Group, founded by Gautam Adani. Both tycoons are close to Modi.
"We think it could impact investigative journalism and compromise sources," Sujata Gupta, with the DNPA, said.
Data privacy laws in many parts of the world, including the European Union, include specific exemptions for journalism.
The law's requirement to disclose all personal data processed, without a public interest exemption, would "seriously hinder investigative reporting and could discourage whistleblowers from coming forward," Reporters Without Borders, an international media watchdog, said.
Independent activists and smaller news organizations also challenged provisions removing exemptions for personal information sought under India's Right to Information (RTI) transparency law.
"The removal of the public interest override ... of the RTI Act now allows information offices of the government to withhold information that is deemed 'personal' even if it has significant connection to a public activity or public interest," a legal challenge filed by investigative news website The Reporters' Collective argued.
Critics have long accused Modi's Hindu nationalist government of undermining press freedom, a charge the government denies. The court will hear the matter next on Nov. 17.
