The links of video conferences would be sent in emails and phone numbers of the lawyers. The Supreme Court would no longer be using WhatsApp to send the video conferencing links.
Earlier WhatsApp was used as a medium for sharing links but now the Supreme Court has clearly instructed to follow the rules passed by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The Court had notified about the new guidelines through the circular, stating that the guidelines would be followed accordingly which is mentioned by Information Technology. The guidelines were shared on February 25 to adjust the operations of online media portals and publishers, OTT platforms, and social media mediators.
The circular stated that the notification for the information of the Advocated-on-Record/Party in persons would be shared in the Social media apps and OTS whereas the WhatsApp group will not be used for sharing any links. The circular also states that the new rules are mandatory to be followed as per the direction passed by IT.
CJI Bobde has stated that WhatsApp may be a two trillion-dollar company, but people value their privacy more than money. WhatsApp has failed to protect the privacy of the people and so, it was decided to use Facebook as a tool for sharing the links rather than using WhatsApp. It was assumed by the Supreme Court that Facebook can protect privacy more efficiently than WhatsApp.
The Rules were brought in accordance with Section 79(2)(c) and Section 69A(2) of the Information Technology Act,2000 which leads to the categorization of films and other entertainment programs, consisting of web series, presents digital news platforms inside the ambit of regulations covering the print and electronic media and asks to rein in social media intermediaries.
86540
103860
630
114
59824