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Journalism of Courage
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) will hold a “separate” consultation with stakeholders in February on its latest proposal to empower the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to police “fake news” on social media platforms and other digital services, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Tuesday.
The measure, proposed under the latest changes to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, has drawn criticism from a wide range of stakeholders, including from civil society organisations to associations representing media companies and journalists.
“We will hold a separate consultation (on PIB fact check) sometime early next month,” Chandrasekhar said when asked about clarification on the proposed amendment to the IT rules 2021.
Last week, MeitY proposed that any piece of news that has been identified as “fake” by the fact-checking unit of PIB– the Centre’s nodal agency to share news updates – will not be allowed on online intermediaries, including social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
The proposal on “fake” news inserted as a postscript to the rules on online gaming further says that content that has been marked as misleading by “any other agency authorised by the government for fact-checking” or “in respect of any business of the Centre” will not be allowed on online intermediaries.
The requirement has been added under due diligence requirements that intermediaries need to follow to enjoy safe harbour, which is legal immunity from third-party content they host. Intermediaries essentially allow users to access services on the internet, and the proposed changes to the rules mean that not just social media platforms but internet service providers and web hosting providers – who are all classified as intermediaries currently – will have to follow the rules if notified with this provision.
Criticising the proposal,the Editors Guild of India in a statement said that the “determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in censorship of the press”. The News Broadcasters & Digital Association said it will “have a chilling effect on the media” and should be withdrawn.
Earlier this week, The Indian Express reported that there have been several instances — including reports concerning notices issued by state governments, police forces and the Intelligence Bureau — that the PIB flagged as “fake news” where it later turned out to be mistaken.
On January 2, MeitY had first released the rules for online gaming and invited stakeholder comments until January 17. But that evening, it extended the consultation period until January 25 and also uploaded a new draft of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, to include regulations for online gaming platforms. It was along with these changes, that it added the proposal to disallow information online that has been debunked by PIB. However, industry stakeholders have also quietly raised concerns over the way the latter was brought into the draft amendments.
