Version imprimableThe Editors Guild of India
November 19, 2025 | New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India notes with concern the recent notification of the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. While the Guild has earlier highlighted the Act’s shortcomings, which included the dilution of the Right to Information regime and the absence of any explicit journalistic exception, the newly issued Rules continue to leave critical questions unresolved for journalists and media organisations.
In July 2025, the Secretary of MeitY held a meeting with press bodies and assured that journalistic work would not fall within the purview of the DPDP Act. The Guild, along with other media organisations, had urged the MeitY to issue a legally tenable clarification or amendatory provision to explicitly safeguard journalistic activities. Following the meeting, a detailed set of 35 questions and case-based scenarios was submitted to MeitY, seeking clarity on issues of consent, exemptions, data retention, research, and reporting in the public interest. However, there has been no official response since then.
The notified Rules do not alleviate these concerns. Ambiguous obligations around consent risk exposing journalists and newsrooms to compliance burdens that may impede routine reportage. Without explicit exemptions or clarifying guidance, the possibility remains that journalistic activities could be interpreted as “processing” requiring consent, thereby chilling newsgathering and hindering accountability journalism.
The Editors Guild urges MeitY to urgently issue a clear and categorical clarification exempting bona fide journalistic activity from the consent and processing requirements of the Act. In the absence of such clarity, confusion and over-compliance will weaken press freedom and obstruct the media’s essential role in a democratic society.
The Guild reiterates that data protection and privacy are vital objectives, but they must be balanced with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and the public’s right to know.
Sincerely,
Anant Nath, President
Ruben Banerjee, General Secretary
K Ve Prasad, Treasurer
