Today (March 13th), the Bombay High Court cleared the path for the Centre to establish a Fact Checking Unit (FCU) under the newly amended Information Technology Rules. The FCU aims to identify fake and false content on social media targeting the government.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!MAHARASHTRA: The Bombay High Court Today made a significant decision that allows the Central Government to proceed with the establishment of a Fact Checking Unit (FCU) as outlined in the amended Information Technology Rules. This unit is aimed at identifying and addressing fake, false, or misleading content on social media platforms that targets the government.
The decision came from a division bench comprising Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale, who dismissed several applications that sought to halt the formation of the FCU until the ongoing legal challenges against the constitutional validity of the amended IT Rules were resolved. This development followed a previous judgment on March 11 by Justice A S Chandurkar, who ruled that there was insufficient basis to compel the government to uphold its initial promise of delaying the FCU’s notification until the petitions against the IT Rules were adjudicated.
The matter escalated to Justice Chandurkar following a divided opinion from the division bench in January. Justice Patel had deemed the Rules unconstitutional, thereby opposing the establishment of the FCU, whereas Justice Gokhale found no constitutional issues with the Rules.
Initially, the Central Government had assured that it would postpone the notification of the FCU until a definitive ruling was made. However, following the split decision, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta indicated that the government could no longer maintain this assurance.
The bench highlighted,
“Consequently the majority view is that the interim applications for continuation of previous statement are rejected,”
-indicating a shift towards the implementation of the FCU.
Justice Chandurkar’s single bench is set to schedule the final hearing dates for the petitions against the IT Rules this Friday (March 15th).
The amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, were introduced by the Union government on April 6, 2023. These amendments include the establishment of the FCU to monitor and act against online content that is deemed fake, false, or misleading and pertains to the government’s affairs.
According to the revised IT Rules, the FCU is tasked with identifying such content and alerting social media intermediaries. These intermediaries then face a choice: remove the flagged content or attach a disclaimer to it. Opting for the latter exposes the intermediary to potential legal consequences, as it forfeits its immunity or “safe harbour” protection. This decision by the Bombay High Court marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate over the regulation of online content and the balance between government oversight and freedom of expression.
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