The government of India issued new rules on Thursday regulating publishers of digital content such as social media intermediaries, OTT (Over-the-top) platforms, and online news and current affairs websites. The rules, known as the Information Technology (Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, have been drafted under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Stating [...]
![Malaysia deports 1086 Myanmar immigrants, ignoring court order and calls from rights groups](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/12/refugees_myanmar_1607174203.jpg)
The Immigration Department of Malaysia said Tuesday that it has deported 1,086 “illegal” immigrants from Myanmar. The immigrants were deported through the RMN Lumut Base in Perak on 3 Myanmar Navy ships with cooperation from the Myanmar Embassy and the Royal Malaysian Navy. The government carried out the deportation despite a court order by the [...]
![India court rules against former union minister in #MeToo criminal defamation case](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/08/India_Flag_1597608048.jpg)
A Delhi trial court on Wednesday acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in a criminal defamation case brought by former Union Minister MJ Akbar relating to sexual harassment allegations that Ramani made against him during the 2018 #MeToo movement. Ramani had written an article on sexual harassment for Vogue in 2017 and subsequently had tweeted accusing Akbar [...]
![Palestine court restricts travel for unmarried women, children](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/05/Palestine_1590075168.jpg)
The Supreme Council of the Sharia Judiciary issued a circular on Sunday containing four articles of travel restrictions on different categories of unmarried persons in the Gaza Strip. Many groups have expressed shock at the circular such as the Palestine Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) which termed it a “grave mistake that must be reversed.” [...]
Amazon filed an appeal against its Mumbai-based partner Future Group in the Indian Supreme Court on Thursday to stop the sale of Future’s $3.4 billion retail assets to Amazon’s market competitor Reliance Industries. Amazon alleges that Future Group has violated non-compete clauses in contracts from 2019 under which the US e-commerce giant acquired a 49 [...]
Haiti President Jovenel Moïse on Sunday announced the arrest of 23 people accused of attempting a coup to overthrow his government and assassinate him. The arrestees include a former presidential candidate, a high-ranking police inspector and a judge of the Supreme Court. Moïse made the announcement on the alleged coup d’état in a Facebook Live [...]
Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) on Wednesday directed telecom companies to temporarily block access to popular social media service Facebook in the country in order to ensure “stability” and prevent misunderstanding amongst the citizens from the “spreading fake news and misinformation” after the junta’s coup d’état earlier this week. Along with Facebook, access [...]
![Myanmar police file charges against Aung San Suu Kyi following coup](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi_31_ott_13_021.png)
The Myanmar police filed formal charges against the former head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi, Wednesday for violating import and export laws. She is also being charged for possession of 10 hand-held radios found by the military at her residence in Naypyidaw. The police allege that these communication devices were illegally imported and used [...]
![India Supreme Court seeks WhatsApp reply in petition against sharing mobile payment system data](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/01/social_media_1612010273.jpg)
The Indian Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice seeking a reply from the instant messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, Inc., in a petition against sharing of data collected on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platforms. Similar big tech companies with payment platforms, such as Amazon Pay by Amazon, Inc. and Google Pay by Google, [...]
![India court directs government to respond to petition challenging anti-conversion law](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/02/india_marriage_1612305594.jpg)
The High Court for the state of Madhya Pradesh has issued a notice directing the state government to respond to the public interest litigation petition challenging the constitutional validity of the newly promulgated Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Ordinance, 2020. The law prohibits religious conversion “by misrepresentation, allurement, use of threat or force, undue influence, coercion, [...]