A day after the final amendments to the Information Technology Rules of 2021 were notified, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday said the IT ministry will form a “fact checking unit” with respect to any information about the central government.
The new body will be formed to flag any kind of fake news about the government. The ministry can also issue instructions to “intermediaries” – social media intermediaries, internet service providers and other service providers – to not host such content.
Chandrasekhar said the fight against misinformation and dangers of patently false news had been signalled in 2022. “There was a requirement of an independent fact-checker from the government, because they have all the information about the government. Social media intermediaries had expressed this need. Such a body will be created and it will be discussed if it will be PIB (Press Information Bureau) or a new unit,” he said.
The union minister said there were nine types of content that were “no-go areas” for social media intermediaries if they wanted protection under Section 79 – misinformation, patently false news among others like religious incitement.
“This body will be trusted by social media companies and operate in a transparent and credible manner. The fight against misinformation is not an attempt to curb free speech,” he added.
He further said this was the first time a government had taken such measures with regard to social media platforms. These were targeted to address risks and dangers of fake news from within India and beyond borders.
“No platform can ever violate the fundamental rights of the citizens of India; this is the first time a government has done this,” he said, adding that the IT Rules protected social media platforms from legal cases under Section 79.
But, he said, this rule said if you wanted the protection then due diligence has to be exercised with respect to content. “If social media chooses not to exercise due diligence, then aggrieved parties can take legal action. The government doesn’t mandate platforms to respond to fact checking, it is their choice,” he added.
Chandrashekar also said the law of the land will kick in and principles of natural justice will be applied to aggrieved parties. “This is clear and fair. It was welcomed by all intermediaries except for some opposition members. If the media misreports, there are laws to take care of that but social media platforms have sweeping protection,” he said.
Only if social media intermediaries choose to keep misinformation online, they will have to face the law, he added. “This is reciprocity. If you want immunity, you have to show due diligence. If you don’t, let the courts then decide whether you are right or not.”
The government will not ask intermediaries to remove content, but only label it as fake, patently false or misleading. The choice of retaining content lies with the intermediaries but they will lose out on immunity under Section 79.
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