Prejudiced And Partisan Opinion: Indian Envoy On NYT Article On IT Rules

New Delhi: India’s envoy to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, on Tuesday dismissed an article in The New York Times on India’s IT Rules as “prejudiced and partisan opinion”.

“Describing well-intentioned efforts aimed at protecting against viral misinformation and possible harm to the Indian society under India’s IT Rules as 'censorship' makes for a catchy headline, but a lazy argument in the op-ed piece by Arman Khan in @nytimes,” Kwatra said in a post on X.

“India takes pride in its credentials as the world’s largest democracy, with a written constitution, an independent judiciary, a vibrant English and vernacular press, and a long history of rights-based litigation,” Kwatra said.

The Indian ambassador said framing what is essentially about platform accountability as “free speech vs censorship” deliberately and disingenuously conflates different issues. “Always welcome an exchange of views on finding the right balance between free speech and accountability to further strengthen India’s cherished democracy. Unfortunately, prejudiced and partisan opinion is not a constructive starting point,” Kwatra said.

An opinion piece in The New York Times characterised India’s IT Rules as an extension of government control over digital speech designed to throttle criticism by targeting ordinary users and independent creators. The article alleges these rules weaponise legal liability for tech platforms and lack sufficient judicial oversight to prevent government-led censorship.

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