THE CONGRESS and several other Opposition parties, including the TMC, RJD and CPI(M), have come down heavily on the government over its decision to create a regulatory regime that will allow a fact-check body appointed by it to label online content related to the Union government “fake” or “misleading”.
The parties on Friday said the move amounted to “imposing censorship”. In response, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar dismissed the Opposition’s criticism as “deliberate misinformation”.
Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said “the biggest producer of fake news in India is the present ruling establishment and its ideological brotherhood”. He demanded that the government withdraw the move.
Lok Sabha MP and former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said “the decision of the Government reflects its deepest insecurity, almost bordering on paranoia”.
“It is censorship, pure and simple. It is bizarre that the Government will be the final arbiter without any appeal, without even following the safeguards laid down in Shreya Singhal case by the Supreme Court as to which critique of the government is fake and which is genuine. These rules will never stand the Test of Article -19 notwithstanding the reasonable restrictions,” Tewari told The Indian Express.
Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, who was earlier the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT, said “the problem with this is that it assumes the good faith of the Government”.
“But a great deal of fake news is generated to promote the interests of the ruling party. Can the Government be trusted to rule impartially in such cases? Far better to put such a determination in the hands of an impartial quasi-judicial body or of a broader set of stakeholders, including media personnel and public representatives,” he said.
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On Thursday, the Ministry of Electronics and IT notified amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which allows the ministry to appoint a fact-check body. According to the new rules, content marked as such by the body will have to be taken down by online intermediaries if they wish to retain their “safe harbour”, which is the legal immunity they enjoy against third-party content.
Slamming the move, Trinamool Congress’s Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said “Modi-Shah’s BJP, who are the masters of creating fake news, now want to regulate fake news. We just died laughing”.
The CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement, “This is totally anti-democratic and unacceptable. These amendments to the IT Rules must immediately be withdrawn.”
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“Sweeping powers to the Press Information Bureau to censor content posted on social media platforms is draconian, anti-democratic and unacceptable. Censorship and Democracy cannot coexist,” said CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said he was unable to fathom who was guiding the decisions of the government. “Are you planning to bring censorship through these kind of arrangements? Who shall be the members of the PIB? Are you going to force people to take down anything which is unpalatable to you, which actually challenges your kind of politics?” he said.
“I think this government should be wary of anything which is undemocratic in nature, which challenges the ethos we have built for so long. They must also remember that more often than not these kinds of initiatives that they take actually send a signal about them, their intent not only in India but abroad as well. You are hosting G20. I am sure this does not go down well,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said it was an attempt by the Government to restrict news critical of it.
“This is the Government of India’s new way of restricting any news critical of the Government. Silencing the Opposition and opposing voices is now complete. Made broadcast and print media toothless, now social media platforms will be made defunct,” she said.
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Defending the government, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Twitter, “There are NO Sweeping powers – neither is it ‘draconian’. IT Rules already have provisions from Oct 2022, which mandate social media intermediaries to not carry certain types of content if they are to have legal immunity under Sec79 of IT act.”
He said the new credible fact-checking unit for all government-related content would help social media intermediaries.
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“Social Media intermediaries will have the option to follow or disregard fact checking finding. If they choose to disregard fact checking, the only consequence is that the department concerned can pursue legal remedy against the social media intermediary,” the minister said.
Chandrasekhar said the goal of the government was to ensure that the Internet was safe and trusted by all citizens.
— With PTI inputs
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April 08, 2023 at 06:34AM
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Oppn takes on govt over fact-check body: ‘It is censorship, pure and simple’ - The Indian Express
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