Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Narendra Modi government is facing flak for declaring that social media platforms will not allow any content flagged by the fact-checking unit approved by the Union Ministry of Information and IT (MeITY) under the Information Technology Rules 2021.
On Thursday, the government notified amendments to the controversial IT rules, 2021, inserting a clause that will need intermediaries — social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook — to ensure users do not post content about the Union government that has been “fact-checked” by an approved body.
Reacting to the government move, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Friday said it was deeply disturbed by the changes in IT rules.
“The ministry notification on such draconian rules is therefore regrettable. The guild again urges the ministry to withdraw the notification and conduct consultations with media organisations and press bodies,” said the EGI in a statement.
What is further surprising is that the ministry notified the amendment without any meaningful consultation that it had promised when it withdrew the earlier draft amendments it had put out in January 2023. Those amendments had given sweeping powers to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), which was universally criticised by media organisations across the country, the media body said.
Pointing out that the rules are against principles of natural justice, and akin to censorship, the EGI noted that “there is no mention of what will be the governing mechanism for such a fact-checking unit, the judicial oversight, the right to appeal, or adherence to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India in Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India case, with respect to taking down a content or blocking of social media handles”.
The press body pointed out that the government has given itself absolute power to determine what is fake and what is not. The so-called ‘fact checking-unit’ can be constituted by the ministry by a simple “notification published in the official gazette”.
Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), the digital rights body also flayed the government for giving overboard power to its own unit calling it an “unconstitutional exercise”.
“Assigning any unit of the government such arbitrary, overboard powers to determine the authenticity of online content bypasses the principles of natural justice, thus making it an unconstitutional exercise. The notification of these amended rules cements the chilling effect on the fundamental right to speech and expression, particularly on news publishers, journalists, activists, etc,” the IFF said in a statement.
The digital group said in addition to circumventing the parliamentary procedures required to expand the scope of the parent legislation, i.e. the IT Act, these notified amendments are also in gross violation of the Supreme Court ruling in the Shreya Singhal case which laid down strict procedures for blocking content. The vagueness of the undefined terms such as “fake”, “false”, and “misleading” make such overboard powers further susceptible to misuse, it added.
