‘Disturbed’ by recently amended IT rules, Editors Guild

The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeITy) on Thursday notified amendments to the contentious 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

The Editors Guild of India has said it is “disturbed” by recently amended Information Technology (IT) rules, which have been notified by the Centre, claiming, it will give the government “sweeping powers.”

The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeITy) on Thursday notified amendments to the contentious 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.

While the government said the measure on fact-checking was meant to combat misinformation, experts have raised concerns about the government assuming a role in doing this.

The Guild says that the rule will give the power to the Centre to takedown any content that has been “fact-checked” or marked as false/fake by a government body. This will include news articles, and videos, published by any media organisation.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Guild said, “Disturbed by the amendments notified to the IT Rules 2021, by the ministry of electronics and information technology giving itself authority to constitute a “fact-checking unit”, with sweeping powers to determine what is “fake or false” with respect to the “business of Central Government”, and order take down to intermediaries”. It said that the government has given itself the “absolute power” to determine what is “fake or not”.

It added that there is no mention of governing mechanism for such a fact-checking unit, or judicial oversight, right to appeal, or adherence to the guidelines laid down in the Shreya Singhal Supreme Court judgment.

Calling the decision “regrettable”, the Guild has asked the ministry to withdraw the notification.

The Editor’s Guild is among several organisations to have raised a red flag regarding the issue. Civil rights body Internet Freedom Foundation in a statement said it will legally contest the amendments and the rules in entirety, as well as the “grave threats posed by them.”

The Centre said the measure on fact-checking was meant to combat misinformation. Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar defended the move saying, “These rules focus on safety, trust and openness of the internet.”

The rules also formalised regulation of online gaming, setting up a self-regulatory body for the industry.

The Union minister added that the government of India will notify an organisation that will fact-check all content regarding government-related content.

“If they are to enjoy safe harbour under section 79, they have to comply. This is not an attempt to censor content. If there is an aggrieved party then section 79 will not be a safe harbour will not be an excuse to escape responsibility,” Chandrashekar said. HindustanTimes