Ambani, Adani among Indian publishers challenging Modi government’s privacy law

A group of 21 news publishers, including companies owned by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, challenged India’s privacy law in court, arguing it would trample investigative work and allow the government to identify journalists’ sources, documents show.

Also read | The Supreme Court will examine the impact of the Data Protection Act on RTI, investigative journalism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year announced the implementation of the Privacy Act to protect users’ digital personal data and increased compliance requirements for platforms such as Meta and Google. Publishers said that since the media were not exempt, the law was an invasion of press freedom.

Media companies received assurances at a government meeting in August that the law would protect press freedom, but the lack of a written restriction on journalists like in the European Union, Singapore and Britain is alarming, the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) said in a confidential High Court filing reviewed by Reuters.

The Oct. 6 lawsuit, which was first announced and is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday (Oct. 27, 2026), is the most high-profile challenge to the government’s privacy law. Until now, only free speech activists and a group of smaller news outlets have questioned it.

It also marks an unusual challenge to the government from businesses led by Mr. Ambani and Mr. Adani, who opposition parties say are close to Mr. Modi and receive favorable treatment – a claim vehemently denied by the businesses and the government.

The DNPA and media groups did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters, as did the IT ministry.

The publishers want most of the controversial provisions of the law, which applies from May 2027, to be repealed. They argue that the law could force journalists to get prior consent from the person they want to investigate and force publishers to delete stories. They also say the powers granted by the law to demand information could expose reporters’ sources.

The law would “make investigative journalism a benign and neutered record of events,” the 698-page filing said. The provisions “constitute pre-censorship which is anathema to any democracy worthy of the name”.

The lawsuit comes amid allegations of a decline in press freedom in India since Mr. Modi took office in 2014. Critics say many mainstream media outlets have not done enough to scrutinize the Modi government.

India’s ranking in Reporters Without Borders’ world press freedom index fell to 157th out of 180 countries this year, from 140th in 2014 — but the government rejects the ranking.

Modi’s government says it respects press freedom and says India, which has a “vibrant press and media ecosystem” with hundreds of newspapers and TV channels, does not need approval from foreign authorities.

Concerns about consent

DNPA members include Ambani’s Network18, which has seven digital news platforms, Adani’s NDTV and other major media groups, including Indian Express and Times Internet, which is part of the Times of India group, publisher of India’s best-selling English-language daily.

A key problem in the law is the consent requirement, the group’s filing said.

A social media platform or online retailer can ask users for consent when they sign up, but the DNPA argues that requiring a journalist to inform the subject of the investigation and ask for consent “allows that subject to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses”.

The law also allows people to withdraw consent at any time and request that their data be erased, without any public interest protections, which the DNPA says could force its members to withdraw from publication or heavily redact a factual news report.

Fear of endangered resources

News publishers fear the federal agency created under the law could impose fines for non-compliance and gives New Delhi the power to block access to any information in “the interests of the general public”, which would limit press freedom, the DNPA said.

In an August letter to the government attached to the lawsuit, the group said India “has chosen to grant broad exemptions to the state while failing to extend any corresponding protections to the press.” No response was cited.

Starting next year, the law will also allow New Delhi to order any organization handling personal data to “provide such information as it may request,” putting newsrooms at risk of having to disclose sources, the filing said.

It may also discourage whistleblowers from sharing information about corruption, corporate wrongdoing or election malpractice with reporters, the DNPA said.

The “not covertly controlled” provision must be struck down, the DNPA said, adding that the power “may extend to privileged communications in the possession of a reporter or whistleblower”.

Published – 26 Oct 2026 18:35 IST