SC stays Fact-Check Unit notified by MeitY under IT Rules, 2021

The Supreme Court today, March 21, 2024, stayed the notification of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to have in place a fact-check unit, for which it had updated the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules 2021). The stay shall remain effective till Bombay High Court gives its verdict on the petitions challenging the legality of the rules under which the fact-check unit is to be set up.

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and Editors Guild of India have challenged the IT Rules in the Bombay High Court. At a hearing held on March 11, 2024, the Bombay High Court in its ruling refused to grant an interim stay on the formation of the fact-check unit under the amended IT Rules 2021. The Supreme Court has set aside this order.

MeitY had on March 20, 2024, notified a Fact Check Unit (FCU) under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) as the fact check unit of the Central Government. In a Gazette notification issued yesterday, MeitY notified the PIB fact check unit under the provisions of the sub-clause (v) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. MIB and MeitY have been working closely on the subject to address the challenge of fake news, especially on social media.

The MeitY notification states that, “the intermediary shall inform its rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement to the user in English or any language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution in the language of his choice and shall make reasonable efforts [by itself, and to cause the users of its computer resource to not host], display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information that, —

(v)      deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message or knowingly and intentionally communicates any misinformation or information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature [or, in respect of any business of the Central Government, is identified as fake or false or misleading by such fact check unit of the Central Government as the Ministry may, by notification published in the Official Gazette, specify]”