The Editors Guild of India has objected to the proposed IT Rules amendment with regard to fake news via a statement. The Guild urged the government to expunge the draft amendment to the rules in its statement released on January 19.
The proposed amendment decrees that if any information or news posted on social media platforms is found to be fake by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) or any other agency which has been authenticated by the Central government for fact-checking, or "by its department in which such business is transacted", the flow of the news would be prohibited .
Citing the risk of press censorship at the hands of the government the Guild said that the determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government.
"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 their statement, voicing "deep concern".
The Guild urged the government to hold consultations with relevant organisations and stakeholders who will be affected by the amendment such as press bodies and media organisations, among others.
"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," a statement issued by the Editors Guild of India said.
The Guild also mentioned that it had raised concerns in the past as well when the rules were first introduced.
"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 said.
The amendment to the rules added that once the piece of information is flagged as fake or false, the social media or other “online intermediaries" would have to make sure to ensure the users don’t "host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share" such information.
Section 79 of the IT act grants an immunity to 'intermediaries' from third party information, data etc hosted by these intermediaries. The Section 2(1) (w) of the Information Technology act defines intermediary in relation to an electronic message’ person who on behalf of another person who receives, stores or transmits it or provides any service in relation to it.
Intermediaries include telecom service providers, internet service providers(ISPs), web hosting services, search engines, online payment sites, auction sites, market places and social media platforms among others.
Abhay Vohra a Partner at law firm Burgeon Law reacted to the proposed amendment and called the proposed amendment a 'clear attempt' to censor free press.
"The new amendment is a clear attempt to censor the free press and will give extensive powers to the PIB to force online intermediaries to take down content that the government may find problematic. PIB will only end up as a mouthpiece of the Government where it is likely to censor content based on the Government’s opinion regardless of the actual facts."
Citing a lack of substantial backing and judicial oversight, Vohra said that the amendment takes away the power to post or transmit anything that could hold the government accountable.
"These rules have an unreasonable restriction on the public, taking away their power to post or transmit anything that holds the government accountable, while also giving authority to the PIB to block, delete and modify any news or opinion on the grounds that it is “fake” without any substantial backing and judicial oversight. This amendment makes the government and the PIB to be intrusive in the flow of process of the media and transmission of information to the general public", Vohra said.
Lauding the government for its proactive approach, Abhimanyu Chopra a Partner at law firm AZB Partners said that it is interesting that the law is proposed as an amendment to the IT Rules as opposed to the Information Technology Act, 2000.
"While it is important to acknowledge that the government is taking a proactive approach to filling in the lacunas in the law where there is a grey area or no law altogether, it is interesting that such proposed amendments are only finding their way under the delegated legislation i.e., the IT Rules rather than the parent act itself i.e., Information Technology Act, 2000", Chopra said.
Last year in October, the Centre announced that a panel will be set up to hear complaints from users regarding moderation decisions of social media firms, which are already required to appoint in-house grievance redressal officers and executives to co-ordinate with law enforcement officials.
The Central government has been involved in tussles with various platforms regarding fake news in the past few years as the reach and popularity of social media have grown.