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The DIGIPUB News India Foundation has raised alarm over the Narendra Modi government’s newly notified Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (DPDPR), saying the framework “endangers journalism” and weakens India’s transparency regime by diluting the Right to Information Act.
Notified on November 15, the rules bring into effect specific provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA, 2023), and stagger the enforcement of several other provisions. “The DDPPA, 2023 and DPDPR, 2025, collectively cripple the Right to Information Act, which is one of the most important legislations for democratic accountability, but also create a regulatory framework that endangers journalism,” DIGIPUB said in a statement.
The rules lay out procedures for consent managers, data retention norms, processing of children’s data, obligations of significant data fiduciaries, and carve-outs for the state when processing personal data. But DIGIPUB said the framework gives the government sweeping access and enforcement powers without extending any statutory exemption for journalists, an omission the group had earlier flagged in its submissions to MEITY.
“They endanger source confidentiality, hinder public-interest investigations, obstruct anti-corruption disclosures, and weaken the information framework essential for democratic accountability. The Rules also create avenues for disproportionate state overreach and covert interference with editorial independence,” the statement said.
DIGIPUB said it had earlier submitted formal objections to the removal of the journalistic carve-out from the DPDPA, 2023 and also highlighted that Section 44(3) substitutes Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, thereby abolishing the public-interest override and making access to information even more restrictive.
“Following this, DIGIPUB’s director and representative met with the Secretary, MEITY, to formally present these concerns in the consultation hosted by the ministry. After the meeting, our members, along with our legal team, prepared a consolidated set of critical questions and concerns, which was sent by post. Despite these extensive efforts of good faith engagement, MEITY neither responded to these questions nor addressed any of the concerns raised by journalists and digital media organisations.”
It pointed out that although a government source had told the Press Trust of India in August that FAQs on the law would be released to address concerns raised by journalists and RTI activists, “even such FAQ has not been issued”.
“This reflects a serious departure from the democratic consultative process expected in delegated legislation and demonstrates disregard for press freedom and the constitutional right to information. DIGIPUB believes that DPDPA, 2023 and DPDPR, 2025, pose a serious threat to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) and impose an unreasonable, constitutionally suspect burden on independent media.”
The foundation urged the Union government, particularly the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, to “commence a reform process” to restore a clear statutory exemption for journalistic and public-interest processing. It said the government must “initiate a transparent, formal, and time-bound consultation on the issues submitted by DIGIPUB and others” and amend provisions “that undermine media freedom, the right to information, and the integrity of the digital public sphere”.
“A free and independent press is indispensable to any democratic republic,” the group said. “The DPDPA, 2023 and DPDPR, 2025, as notified, represent a serious setback to this foundational principle.”