BCI asks State Bar Councils, Law colleges to immediately enforce social media and digital ethics rules
New Delhi, July 18
The Bar Council of India has directed all State Bar Councils and Centres of Legal Education to immediately implement its circular laying down rules on social media use, digital ethics, court decorum, confidentiality and professional conduct for advocates, law students and interns.
In a communication issued on July 17, 2026, the BCI said the circular should not be treated as a routine advisory. It directed all concerned institutions to ensure that its contents are brought to the notice of every advocate, student and other stakeholders through effective awareness measures.
The circular deals with issues such as misuse of court premises and judicial proceedings, sharing of live-streamed court proceedings, misleading legal content, disclosure of client-related material, misuse of professional identity and AI-generated, deepfake, voice-cloned and other manipulated content.
The BCI has asked all law colleges and universities to circulate the circular among faculty members, students, interns and staff, hold orientation programmes explaining the rules, obtain undertakings from students at the time of admission and before internships, and appoint nodal officers to monitor compliance.
It has clarified that simply uploading the circular on a website or forwarding it on messaging groups will not be enough.
State Bar Councils have been directed to send the circular to every enrolled advocate and recognised Bar Association in their jurisdiction. They have also been asked to ensure that Bar Associations display the circular prominently, create systems for receiving complaints, appoint Digital Ethics Committees or nodal officers, and submit implementation reports.
The BCI said the implementation should be educational and preventive, and should follow the Advocates Act, the Bar Council of India Rules and principles of natural justice. It also clarified that the circular should not be used to settle personal scores, suppress lawful criticism or act on unverified allegations.
The communication ends by stating that the Bar Council of India expects immediate and complete compliance with these directions.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As a law student, I appreciate this. But orientation programs and undertakings? That's going to create a lot of paperwork. Also, who decides what is 'misleading legal content'? Could be used to silence genuine criticism of judgments.
Good move. In the US, bar associations have similar rules. But enforcement is key - Indian courts already struggle with misinformation. The 'no personal scores' clause is smart, but I worry about overreach in practice.
I'm a practicing advocate in Delhi. Some of my colleagues do behave like influencers - tweeting case strategies, posting from inside courts. This was needed. But BCI should also train lawyers on digital ethics, not just punish.
Interesting. In Canada, law societies have social media guidelines but they're more advisory. This seems heavy-handed for India's legal education system which already has compliance fatigue. Let's see if it actually changes behavior.
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