News publishers have warned that the absence of a journalism exemption in the 2023 data protection law could hamper investigative reporting.

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• Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 does not infringe press freedom.
• News publishers had warned that the lack of a journalism exemption could hamper investigative reporting.
• Official sources indicated the law could be amended to protect journalistic activity explicitly if needed.
• Publishers' concerns include processing personal data without consent, obligations to erase or correct data, retention of information and protection of confidential sources.
• The government's position is that journalistic freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution and the law does not intend to affect it, and it has invited dialogue with editors.
• Press freedom flows from Article 19(1)(a), subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2).
• Privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21, as recognised in the K.S. Puttaswamy judgment of 2017.
• Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act amended Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, removing the public-interest override for personal information, a change transparency advocates have criticised.
• The Justice Srikrishna Committee draft of 2018 and the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 exempted processing for journalistic purposes, but the 2023 Act does not.
• Article 85 of the EU's GDPR requires member states to reconcile data protection with freedom of expression, including journalism.