The power to administer the newly framed rules to regulate social and digital media has “not been delegated” to state governments, the Union information and broadcasting ministry has said after learning about a notice served to two editors of an Imphal-based news portal under the new regulations.
Under the new rules notified on February 25, Imphal West district magistrate Naorem Praveen Singh had served notices to The Frontier Manipur’s (TFM) executive editor Paojel Chaoba and associate editor Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha at their homes in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, on Tuesday morning.
The notices had allegedly served by armed policemen and dealt with a chat show whose topic centred around “a media under siege” and had discussed the new laws to regulate websites and video-streaming platforms.