On August 9, India’s Rajya Sabha, or Upper House, passed the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2023. Critics identify the bill’s potential for widening censorship, increasing surveillance of journalists and their sources, and undermining Right To Information (RTI) legislation.  

The IJU says the DPDP Bill will result in increased regulation on data processing for companies, allows for greater online censorship, and will allegedly allow people the ability to correct their personal data. The bill will also amend the RTI law to exempt requests involving ‘personal information’, broadly defined as any data about an identifiable individual. The legislation proposes a staged implementation process, with the Central government to institute the bill’s provision in a staggered manner.  

The Indian government also passed a Press and Registration of Periodicals (PDP) Bill, 2023 on August 3, replacing the colonial-era Press and Registration of Book Act, 1867. While the government claims the legislation will streamline media business practices, and amend punitive sections in its predecessor legislation, media defenders say the bill may expose media outlets deemed ‘non-compliant, terroristic, or seditious’ to intervention by authorities, such as India’s security forces. Those outlets found or alleged to operate against the state’s security, or charged with terrorist or other crimes may be blocked from publishing. 

The IFJ’s 2022-23 South Asia Press Freedom Report examined India’s widescale penchant for imposing broadly-worded legislation that impacts and threatens the work of journalists and media workers. This was evidenced by a dramatic rise in digital surveillance measures, increased arrests of media workers on spurious terrorism and sedition charges, and underhanded state retaliation for investigative or critical journalism.  

The IJU said:“While the DPDP Bill 2023 would make the government less transparent to the people including journalists and end up making them transparent to both the Government and private investors, the PRP bill would have an adverse impact on publications of newspapers and periodicals and overall press freedom in the country.” 

The IFJ said: “These two bills paint a concerning and damning picture of the future of independent journalism in India. The Indian legislature must urgently review the DPDP and PRP bills, and ensure that press freedom, freedom of expression, and the right to information that is enshrined in the country’s constitution is upheld in all legislation.”