Regulated by Institution, Organized by Individual: India's Media Law Meets the Group Chat

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned in July 2026, not because a newspaper investigation broke the story, but because the Cockroach Janta Party and student groups spent seven weeks protesting at Jantar Mantar, organising mostly through social media, after NEET-UG got cancelled over a paper leak. That timeline exposes a real gap in Indian media law. The regulatory system, from the Press Council to the NBDSA to IT Rules compliance, was built around publishers, broadcasters, and registered institutions. It has no real answer for a decentralised movement with no editorial board and no publisher registration. India's March 2026 draft IT Rules try to close that gap by pulling individual creators into publisher-style obligations, which critics call a step toward digital authoritarianism rather than accountability.