During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the Court that proceedings pending in the high courts be stayed.
However, the bench said, "We're not saying anything. We're simply tagging it with the other matter."
The Central government had moved the top court for transfer of all petitions to the Supreme Court citing multiplicity of proceedings.
The transfer plea was filed in April after several pleas were filed in HCs including Delhi, Bombay, Madras, and Kerala High Courts challenging the validity of the said Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
It is worthwhile to note that various issues have been pointed out with the new IT rules such as restriction of free speech, requirements such as automatic identification and removal of content, and lack of elaboration on how the five million users will be calculated.
Immediately following the publication of the rules, several platforms advised creators of caution based on the new rules.
Petitions have been filed in various HCs challenging the rules concerning digital news media.(UNI)
