Bombay HC seeks Centre's affidavit on plea challenging IT rules amendment
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to file an affidavit in response to a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra challenging an amendment to the Information Technology Rules which empowers the Centre to identify fake news on social media against the government.
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale said the government in its affidavit shall state why the amendment was required.
"Was there any factual background or reasoning that necessitated this amendment? The petitioner (Kamra) is anticipating some kind of impact due to this amendment," the court said while directing the Centre to file its affidavit by April 19.
The bench posted the petition for further hearing on April 21.
Kamra in the petition claimed to be a political satirist who relies on social media platforms to share his content.
He said the Rules could potentially lead to his content being arbitrarily blocked or his social media accounts being suspended or deactivated, thus harming him professionally.
Kamra in the petition has sought the court to declare the amended rules as unconstitutional and a direction to the government to restrain from taking action against any individual under the rules.
On April 6, the Union government promulgated certain amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Under the amendments, the government added a provision of a fact-check unit to identify fake or false or misleading online content related to the government.
Against such content identified by this unit, intermediaries, such as social media companies, will have to act or risk losing their "safe harbour" protections in Section 79 of the IT Act, which allows intermediaries to avoid liabilities for what third parties post on their websites.
This amendment was challenged through a petition filed on Monday by Kamra, who termed it as violative of the fundamental rights of citizens of this country.
Kamra's counsel Navroz Seervai submitted to the court that the rule would have a "chilling effect" on the freedom of speech and expression of all citizens of this country, especially those who post comments and videos on political developments as a profession.
"This amendment is against the interest of the public at large, but only in the interest of the government, ministers, and others in power. The amendment has no provision for a hearing or appeal. This is against the principles of natural justice," Seervai claimed.
Seervai sought an urgent hearing on the petition, but Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Union government, sought time to file an affidavit as the petition challenges the validity of the rule.
Kamra in his petition said the rules require social media intermediaries to censor or modify content that relates to the central government, if the government mandated fact-checking body directs them to do so.
"The rules are manifestly arbitrary, as they entail the central government acting as a judge and prosecutor in its own cause, thus violating one of the most fundamental principles of natural justice," the petition said.
It said these rules make the government the "sole arbiter of truth or falsity of speech".
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
