‘Withdraw draconian rule’: Editors Guild 'disturbed' by IT amendment rules

The Editors Guild of India on Friday said it was deeply disturbed by the draconian amendments to the Information Technology Rules that gave the government 'absolute power' to determine fake news.

In a statement, the Guild urged the government to withdraw the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules and hold consultations with the media organisations and press bodies, as it had promised earlier, news agency PTI reported.

EGI is disturbed by the amendments notified to the IT Rules 2021, by @GoI_MeitY giving itself authority to constitute a “fact checking unit”, with sweeping powers to determine what is “fake or false” wrt “business of Central Government”, and order take down to intermediaries. pic.twitter.com/8osEyM1RTS

— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) April 7, 2023

As per the recently amended rules, the IT ministry has given itself power to constitute a "fact checking unit" that will give it "absolute powers" to determine what is "fake or false or misleading", with respect to "any business of the Central Government."

The ministry has also empowered itself to issue instructions to 'intermediaries' (including social media intermediaries, Internet Service Providers, and other service providers), to not host such content, the Guild said.

"In effect, the government has given itself absolute power to determine what is fake or not, in respect of its own work, and order take down," the statement said.

The Guild said there was no mention of 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 v Union of India case, with respect to take down of content or blocking of social media handles.

"All this is against principles of natural justice, and akin to censorship," it said.

The Guild said it was surprising that the Ministry had notified this amendment, without any meaningful consultation that it had promised after withdrawing the earlier draft amendments it had put out in January 2023.

"The Ministry's notification of such draconian rules is therefore regrettable. The Guild again urges the Ministry to withdraw this notification and conduct consultations with media organisations and press bodies," it said.