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Big Setback: Bombay HC Strikes Down IT Rules Changes Allowing Centre To Set Up Fact-Check Units
Bombay High Court on Friday struck down the amendments to Information Technology (IT) Rules allowing the Central government to establish Fact-Check Units.
Bombay High Court
Photo : ANI
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed the amendments to Information Technology (IT) Rules allowing the Central government to establish Fact-Check Units, holding it as unconstitutional. Comedian Kunal Kamra has filed a petition against the Centre's move to establish Fact-Check Units to identify and debunk 'fake and misleading' information about its functioning on social media platforms under the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
Observing that the amended rules infringed the right to equality and freedom of speech, the Bombay High Court also said the rules being vague and broad could cause a "chilling effect" not only on an individual but also social media intermediaries.
The tie-breaker bench of Justice Atul Chandurkar said, "I am of the opinion that the amendments are violative of Article 14 and Article 19 of the Constitution of India". The matter came to the tie-breaker judge after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Dr Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict in January 2024.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had set aside the March 11 order of the Bombay High Court which had refused to grant interim stay on setting up the Fact-Check Unit under the amended IT Rules.
Centre's Bid To Establish Fact-Check Units
The Fact Check Unit was notified under Information Technology Rules, 2021, by the Ministry of Electronics and IT. In April last year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) promulgated the 2023 Rules, which further amended the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
Under the new rules, if the fact check unit 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 rules gave the Fact-Check Units the power to declare any online content related to government as fake or misleading. Social media intermediaries (such as online portals or platforms like Facebook, X) could then either remove the content, or add a disclaimer. By taking the second option, an intermediary would lose its safe harbour/immunity, and stand liable for legal action.
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Apoorva Shukla author
Apoorva Shukla is a journalist at Times Now, where she thrives on dissecting political developments both at home and abroad. A graduate of Delhi Univ...View More
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