Srinagar, June 7: The Union Government informed the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it wouldn’t notify the fact-checking unit for spotting false news against the government on social media till July 10; this was the Union Government’s response to the Bombay High Court’s question about when the Union Government would notify the fact-checking unit.
This came about as a result of a petition that was submitted independently by the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines (AIM).
On April 6 of this year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) disseminated a notification on the IT Amendment Rules 2023. Along with a number of other rules, it provided the government with the ability to form a ‘fact check unit,’ which would be tasked with classifying and removing any online material referring to ‘any business of the central government’ that is judged ‘fake, deceptive, or misleading.’ This authority was given in conjunction with a number of other regulations.
In its statement dated April 7, the Editors Guild had expressed its concerns on the aforementioned matter. Subsequently, the Editors Guild went on to file a writ suit with the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutional validity of this clause in the IT Amendment Rules 2023. The clause was declared to be “ultra vires the Information Technology Act, 2000 and violating the right to freedom of speech and expression” by the court.
In a same manner, AIM had gone to the Bombay High Court and requested that the court get involved in the situation.
The Bombay High Court has just issued an order requiring the Centre to submit its response to the case by the 20th of June, and it has scheduled the subject for its final hearing for the 6th and 7th of July in 2023. In addition, the commitment made by the government to not establish its fact check unit has been extended until the 10th of July in 2023.
The Editors Guild claimed in a statement that it had voiced its concerns in its statement dated April 7, 2023, which said that “amendments to the IT Rules will have deeply adverse implications for press freedom in the country.” The Editors Guild made this statement public.
“The Guild has now submitted a writ case to the Bombay High Court in an effort to challenge the constitutional validity of this section of the IT Rules Amendment, 2023. The Guild claims that this provision violates the right to freedom of speech and expression as well as that it is ultra vires the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000). The Bombay High Court has ordered the Government to submit its response to this case by the 20th of June, and it has scheduled the final hearing for the proceedings for the 6th and 7th of July in 2023. The government’s promise not to establish its own fact check unit has been extended until July 10, 2023, according to the assurance it has supplied.
“The Editors Guild of India extends its heartfelt gratitude to the legal team that has taken the initiative in coordinating this effort.”
Together with Advocates Natasha Maheshwari and Hrishika Jain, Advocate Mr. Shadan Farasat wrote the petition for the client. Bimal Rajshekhar, a lawyer from Bombay, was the one who submitted the plea. at addition, the Guild would like to express its gratitude to Senior Advocate Mr. Kapil Sibal, who has been supervising this situation and who appeared at the Bombay High Court on behalf of the Guild.
