Editors Guild deeply disturbed by amended IT Rules, says will hit press freedom

The Editors Guild of India, in a release issued, has stated that it is “deeply disturbed” by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 (IT Amendment Rules, 2023), which have been notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on April 6, 2023. 

The Guild affirmed that the amendments to the IT Rules will “deeply adverse implications for press freedom in the country”. It added, “As per the rules that have been notified, the Ministry has given itself the power to constitute a “fact-checking unit”, which will have sweeping powers to determine what is “fake or false or misleading”, with respect to “any business of the Central Government”, with instructions to “intermediaries” (including social media intermediaries, Internet service providers, and other service providers), to not host such content. In effect, the Government has given itself absolute power to determine what is fake or not, in respect of its own work, nd order to take down. The so-called ‘fact-checking unit’ can be constituted by the Ministry, by a simple “notification published in the Official Gazette”.” 

The Guild further stated that there is no mention of what will be the governing mechanism for such a fact-checking unit, the judicial oversight, the right to appeal, or adherence to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India in Shreya Singhal Vs Union of India case, with respect to taking down of content or blocking of social media handles. “All this is against the principles of natural justice, and akin to censorship,” the Guild maintained. 

The Guild found it surprising is that the Ministry has notified this amendment without any meaningful consultation that it had promised after it withdrew the earlier draft amendments it had put out in January 2023. “These had given sweeping powers to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), which was universally criticised by media organisations across the country, including the Guild,” it pointed out. 

Calling the amended rules “draconian” and “regrettable”, the Guild urged the Ministry to withdraw this notification and conduct consultations with media organisations and press bodies.