NEW DELHI: The Government has denied that the Intermediaries Guidelines Rules, 2011 notified on 11 April this year violate the principle of freedom of expression and enable the government to regulate content.

Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot told Parliament that the rules do not give any power to Government to regulate the content.

The rules also do not provide free access to sensitive personal information collected by service providers while providing services.

The Government had formulated the rules after wide consultation with industry associations and stakeholders and the rules were duly endorsed. The industry Associations in their comments did not raise the issues particularly pertaining to compromising the privacy and violation of freedom of speech and expression.
 
Google and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had sent their comments on the draft rules. The comments were studied and incorporated appropriately in the rules. The draft rules after incorporating the comments were also sent to IAMAI who had endorsed the final draft rules which were later notified.

The Government issued two press notes on 10 May and 11 May after the media reports.