The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology stated in Parliament on Wednesday that it has not studied the impact on freedom of speech that government control on social media would have. The recently notified Intermediary Rules, to recap, require social media platforms to take down content that is flagged to them in a matter of hours, and develop what the government calls a "robust grievance redressal system". Notably, the government says, "Presently, there is no proposal with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to appoint a regulator for social media." The government was responding to a query by Bastar Indian National Congress Lok Sabha MP Deepak Baij. The Rules have raised concerns around free speech, especially that social media companies, in a bid to evade government action, may over-comply and block posts that shouldn't be taken down. Baij asked the government "whether the Government has conducted any study regarding the impact of Government’s control over social media vis-a-vis right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution and if so, the details and the outcome thereof." In response, the government said, "No such study is undertaken by the Government. The Government values freedom of speech and expression which is a fundamental right under article 19(1) of the Constitution. The Government welcomes criticism, dissent and also the rights of people to ask questions on social media. However, this needs to be acknowledged that the fundamental right of speech and expression under article 19(1) is also subject to reasonable restrictions under article…
