Apar Gupta
Indian lawyer and digital rights activist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apar Gupta is a lawyer, founder and writer on democracy and technology from India.[1] In 2019 he was elected as an Ashoka Fellow for, "creating a model for digital rights advocacy in the country that is driven by the public, for the public," as the co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation.[2]
Apar Gupta | |
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| Alma mater | Amity Law School, Columbia Law School |
| Occupations | Lawyer, Writer |
| Awards | Ashoka Fellowship |
Education
Gupta was born and raised in New Delhi, India. He attended Mount St Mary's School, obtained his B.A. (LLB) (Hons) degree from Amity Law School, and a postgraduate degree from the Columbia University School of Law.[3]
Law Practice
Gupta started out as a commercial litigator at Karanjawala & Co., and later merged his own firm Accendo Law Partners with Advani & Co. in 2010.[4] He was included in the Forbes India 30 under 30 list in 2014.[5]
Gupta resigned in 2015 to start his own law chamber[6] where he represented parties in notable civil liberties and constitutional cases that have digital or technology issues including Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (Section 66A),[7] Subramanium Swamy v. Union of India (criminal defamation),[8] Gaurav Sureshbhai Vyas v. State of Gujarat (Internet Shutdowns),[9] Justice Puttaswamy v. Union of India (Right to Privacy[10] and Aadhaar[11]), PUCL v. Union of India (Surveillance Reforms),[12] Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (Internet Shutdowns),[13] Indian Kanoon v. Karthik Theodore (Right to be Forgotten)[14][15] and X Corp. v. Union of India (Sahyog Censorship Portal).[16]
He has represented the India Chapter of Friday's for Future when their website was blocked under terrorism charges.[17] His representations for journalists include Paranjoy Guha Thakurta[18] and Sucheta Dalal[19] against large corporations in cases of defamation. In April 2026, he was a counsel in a case in which the Delhi High Court directed the restoration of a political satirist's suspended social media account.[20]
Digital Rights Advocacy
He is a co-founder of the SaveTheInternet.in campaign on net neutrality[21] and SaveOurPrivacy.in campaign for data protection and surveillance reforms.[22] After his work on the Section 66A case,[23] he co-authored a study to document compliance with the judgement to discover ongoing cases which continued unconstitutionally against the Supreme Court judgement. This was called, "shocking" by the Supreme Court.[24] Gupta is the co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and was appointed its first executive director from 2018[25] till November 2023.[26] He resumed the role of IFF's Founder Director in November, 2024.[27] For his work at IFF he was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2019[28] and the Next Now Fellowship.[29] Gupta also filed a case as a petitioner against the Ministry of Home Affairs for disclosure of statistical data on surveillance in India.[30] He has deposed before a parliamentary committee on the DNA Bill[31] and before a commission inquiring into the use of Pegasus.[32] On 31 May 2023, he presented Item #7 at the Annual meeting of shareholders of META Platforms[33] titled as, "Shareholder Proposal Regarding Report on Allegations of Political Entanglement and Content Management Biases in India"[34] that was defeated with 5% votes in its favour.[35] He frequently works on areas of personal autonomy and rights and has advocated against directive on the mandatory installation of the Sanchar Saathi App[36] and the Broadcasting Bill, 2024[37] which were rolled back by the Government of India.
Writing and Lectures
Gupta authored the Commentary on the Information Technology Act which is published by LexisNexis.[38] He writes regularly on digital and democratic rights in leading newspapers and is quoted as an expert in India.[39] Gupta is published in reviewed journals like the Indian Journal of Law and Technology, Seminar and the India International Center Quarterly.[40] He has delivered the 11th Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture[41] at the 37th Annual Dr. Ramanatham Memorial Meeting (with Jinee Lokaneeta) and also started a YouTube channel, 1984 to take forward the discourse on digital policy.[42]
Awards and recognition
- Forbes India : 30 under 30 (2014)[43]
- Ashoka Fellowship (2019)[44]
- Agami Shamnad Basheer Citizenship Prize : Special Mention (2020)[45]
- ROW 100 : Global Tech's Changemakers (2022)[46]
- Global Privacy Assembly, Privacy and Human Rights Award (2025)[47]
- Tech Policy Press Fellowship (2026)[48]