A week after proposing that the Press Information Bureau will be the arbiter of “fake news” in India, the government has said it will first hold a “separate consultation” before the proposal is implemented.
Minister of state for information technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, told PTI that the consultation will take place “next month”.
Last week, the IT ministry proposed an amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The proposed amendment said all intermediaries, including social media platforms, will need to ensure that any news article identified as “fake or false” by PIB’s Fact Check unit is not allowed on their platform.
The suggestion was widely criticised by media houses and others. Newspaper editorials slammed the “absurdity of an interested party playing judge”. The Editors Guild said the proposed change would “make it easier to muzzle the free press”. The News Broadcasters & Digital Association said the draft amendment would “have a chilling effect on the media” and must be withdrawn.
The government subsequently said PIB’s mandate would be limited to content about the central government. A government official told the Hindu: “The unit does not have the authority to fact-check any other content, including those related to state governments, agencies or private entities.”
When Newslaundry asked about the criticism, Chandrasekhar said, “Social media intermediaries asked us to have notified fact-checkers to identify misinformation...The intermediaries are the ones who are being regulated about what they can and cannot allow on their platforms. Thus, they cannot appoint a judge who will tell them what to put and what not to put. It has to be an independent third party fact-checker.”
Importantly, PIB’s Fact Check is not really the best at its job. Since the state has vested interests in half-truths and lies, it is rather awkward that it will now fact-check those who tend to call it out. Read Newslaundry’s piece on how PIB’s fact-checking unit might need its own fact-checker.
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