IT Rules amendments don’t offer protection to parody, satire: Bombay HC

The amendments to the Information Technology Rules, prima facie, do not seem to offer protection to parody and satire, the Bombay High Court said on Monday while hearing a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra.

The HC bench also said Kamra’s petition challenging the amendments was maintainable.

On April 6, the Union government promulgated certain amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including a provision of a fact check unit to identify fake or false or misleading online content related to the government.

Kamra, in his petition, claimed the new rules could potentially lead to his content being arbitrarily blocked or his social media accounts being suspended or deactivated, thus harming him professionally.