MeitY likely to lead proposed body to fact-check government news

The three-member body will consist of two officials from the IT ministry as well as a third independent member with expertise in law, social media or public policy, according to the person cited above who said the “ministry-led body will coordinate with other departments of the government on the fact-check”.

This marks a departure from the government’s earlier stance where the Press Information Bureau (PIB) was identified as the preferred agency for carrying out such a fact-checking exercise. The move has invited serious criticism from free speech activists along with organisations such as the Editors Guild of India who warned that it could lead to “censorship of free speech in the country”.

Terming the criticism unfounded, officials said “PIB’s mention has been removed” from the latest notification under the amended IT Rules.

The proposed MeitY-led fact-checking body will verify only news and fact-based information and will not be empowered to screen or assess opinions presented by publications, they added.

The three-member team will also be required to publicly specify the reasoning behind any take-down orders that it issues. This will ensure that everyone can see why a certain post has been taken down or challenged on the ground of being incorrect or fake, officials said. However, a final decision on the powers that will be granted to the proposed fact-checking body as well as its composition and the timeline by which it is expected to be functional will be taken only after a final verdict is granted by the court that will hear the plea that has been lodged against it, they added.

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In April — a week after the government amended the Information Technology Rules of 2022 to introduce the provisions of a government-run fact checking body to verify any information about the central government — political satirist Kunal Kamra had moved the Bombay High Court challenging the proposed regulations. In his plea, Kamra has alleged that rules which empower the central government to set up the fact-checking unit make it “a judge and prosecutor in its own cause, thus violating one of the most fundamental principles of natural justice”.“Furthermore, the impugned rules are over-broad, vague, and constitute unreasonable restrictions to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution, inter alia, by making the state the sole arbiter of truth or falsity of speech,” Kamra said in his plea.

Agreeing to hear the plea, the Bombay High Court had asked the IT ministry to file a detailed affidavit on the reasons behind the proposal to set up the fact-checking unit and the background of the rules under which the proposal was moved.

In its response, the central government had said that Kamra’s plea was premature as the fact-check body had not been notified till date and as such there was no question of any censuring of posts on social media. Later, it had also assured the high court that it would not notify the fact-checking body until at least July 5. The high court is scheduled to next hear the case on June 8.

Labelling of posts

Once the proposed fact-check body is established, MeitY is likely to ask social media intermediaries to label posts as “fake” or “misleading”, if the verifying authority deems it so.

In certain cases, where the expected virality of the post is high, it may also ask the intermediaries to limit the visibility or take the post down, the official said.

On April 6, the IT ministry notified the establishment of a state-appointed body to fact-check all government-related content online deemed as misinformation or disinformation.

Internet intermediaries which receive such notices will be free to disagree and refuse to take down the content in question.Such intermediaries, will, however, be deprived of the protections granted to them under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, which grants internet intermediaries immunity from content posted by users and other third parties.