IT Rules Amendments: Online Platforms Will Have To Remove ‘Fake’ Content Flagged By Govt

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed new amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, which will require social media intermediaries to remove content flagged as fake or false by the central government’s fact-checking mechanisms. 

MeitY published the draft amendments on Tuesday (January 18) and invited feedback on it by January 25, 2023.

As per the draft amendments, intermediaries will have to make reasonable efforts to cause the user not to host, display, upload, modify, transit, or publish any message that has been “identified as fake or false by the fact check unit at the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or other agency authorised by the Central Government for fact-checking or, in respect of any business of the Central Government, by its department in which such business is transacted under the rules of business”.

Earlier this month, the ministry also came out with draft rules for online gaming, which were also published as draft amendments to the IT Rules. The last date to submit feedback for the amendments pertaining to online gaming has also been extended to January 25.

The IT Rules, 2021 prescribe a framework for content regulation by online publishers of news, curated audio-visual content, social media intermediaries, among others. While the discussions on the amended rules have been largely around the major social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook,  other online platforms, where users have a big role to play but do not have robust redressal mechanisms, also fall under the ambit of the rules.

The Indian government has been vocal about making “internet open, safe, and trusted” and has released multiple amendments to IT Rules from time-to-time to better regulate the platforms.

“Our mission is to make internet open, safe and trusted…Internet can’t be party to deliberate misinformation,” Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said earlier.

The amendments come at a time when the Centre is locked in tussles with multiple social media platforms. While Twitter has dragged the government to court over ‘innocuous’ tweets, Meta-owned WhatsApp has also been trying to fend off the government in multiple courts over a contentious 2021 privacy policy update.

Meanwhile, the government has also cracked down on YouTube channels and social media pages in the recent past to clamp down on fake news. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB’s) fact check unit Press Information Bureau flagged six YouTube channels for working concertedly and spreading false information in India.