The Editors Guild of India asked the government on Wednesday to “expunge” the draft amendment to the IT Rules that would have required social media companies to remove news pieces that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) had labelled “false”.
A statement issued by the Editors Guild of India said, “The Guild urges the Ministry to expunge this new amendment, and to initiate meaningful consultations with press bodies, media organisations and other stakeholders, on the regulatory framework for digital media, so as to not undermine press freedom.”
“At the outset, determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in the censorship of the press,” the Guild said in a statement here, voicing “deep concern” over the draft amendment to the Information Technology (IT) Rules.
It was stated that there are currently several laws in place to address content that is discovered to be factually false. The draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had previously released for public comment has been modified.
An intermediary is not permitted to publish information that “deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message or knowingly and intentionally communicates any misinformation,” according to the addition made to the “due diligence section” for social media intermediaries. This information has been “identified as fake or false by the fact check unit at the PIB of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or other agency authorised by the Central government for fact-checking.”
“It must be further noted that the Guild had raised its deep concerns with the IT Rules when they were first introduced in March 2021, claiming that they empower the Union Government to block, delete, or modify published news anywhere in the country without any judicial oversight. Various provisions in these rules have the potential to place unreasonable restrictions on digital news media, and consequently media at large,” the Guild concluded.
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