NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Parliamentary Panel on Communications and Information Technology has called for a review of mechanism to curb fake news by the government.
The move comes two months after the Bombay High Court struck down the main a key provision of the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, which had empowered the government to identify, what it considered, “fake news” on the social media platforms though its “Fact Check Unit” (FCU).
The panel headed by the BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, has summoned News Broadcasters and Digital Association along with Editors Guild of India on November 21. They will also be meeting the representatives of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting the same day.
In April 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had promulgated the “IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023,” which had amended the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
The amendment to Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of the IT Rules, 2021 expanded the general term “fake news” to include “government business.” Under the Rules, if the FCU comes across or is informed about any posts that are “fake”, “false”, or contain “misleading” facts pertaining to the business of the government, it would flag it to the social media intermediaries.
The Editors Guild of India along with stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra had challenged the provision in the Bombay High Court. Notwithstanding the case the Union government issued a notification establishing the FCU on March 20. Its formation was stayed by the Supreme Court the very next day, pending the high court ruling. On September 21 the Bombay High Court struck down the amended rule as “unconstitutional.”
The Opposition fears that the deliberations at the panel on the issue will again revive the debate. The Central government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) still has a fact check unit, though it is not empowered with mandate of taking down the content that it labels as “fake news.” “Media ideally should be that media must be self-regulating, no matter the sentiment of government or the Opposition. Mechanisms through consultative process to evolve a self-regulatory mechanism,” Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale, who is also a member of the panel, said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
