A day after a major controversy erupted following the Centre’s notification on fake news, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar clarified that the rules do not mention “PIB Fact Check” as the agency that can flag news content as “fake news”. declare or classify.
The clarification came after several media reported that organizations would have to remove their content from the platform if the fact-checking agency declared the content to be fake news. The matter also turned political as several opposition parties called it a “draconian law” and demanded the Center to withdraw the law.
“misunderstood”
Earlier it was understood that the fact-checking agency would be the Press Information Bureau (PIB). In particular, PIB is the nodal agency of the Government of India for disseminating information to the print and electronic media on the policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements of the Government.
It acts as an interface between the government and the media and also serves to provide feedback to the government on public reactions appearing in the media.
However, on Thursday, several media reported that as per the amended Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021, social media platforms and other intermediaries will now have to ensure that “fake news” articles about the Center are declared have been done. As carried out by the PIB, once alerted are taken down from their platform.
“PIB will not be a fact-checking agency”
The minister said that the rules do not state that the agency declaring fake news will be PIB Fact Check. “The rules don’t state at all that this is going to be a PIB fact check. I think some of the gray area, or indeed misunderstanding, comes from the fact that the original draft of the rules that was consulted I have spoken.” PIB Fact Check is not mentioned in the rules that were notified yesterday, Chandrasekhar told ANI.
“So we have to decide whether it will be a new organization with trust and credibility attached to it, or whether we take an old organization and use it to build trust and credibility in the context of a fact,” he said. Let’s reproduce – investigation mission.”
Editors Guild of India also condemns the laws
Earlier today, the Editors Guild of India – a non-profit organization of journalists – in a statement, expressed serious concern over the new IT amendment rules notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and called the rule “draconian”. law” to suppress media freedom in the country.
“The government has absolute power in relation to its own work to determine what is fake and what is not, and to order removal,” the statement said.