New Delhi: An association of digital media organisations has expressed concern over a draft amendment to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, asking social media companies to take down news articles that have been deemed “fake” by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
“The proposed amendments can potentially become a convenient institutional mechanism to muzzle the press,” DIGIPUB News India Foundation, which comprises 11 digital news outlets including The Wire, said in a statement on Thursday, January 19.
“The government is not the only stakeholder in a thriving democracy. The media (electronic, print and digital), information activists, civil society, etc. are equally invested in a democracy’s wellbeing and in uploading constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and expression. Therefore, the government should not appropriate powers to legitimise what information/news is real or fake,” it said.
DIGIPUB’s statement on the draft amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, made by MEITY. pic.twitter.com/ufQFVYngc7
— DIGIPUB News India Foundation (@DigipubIndia) January 19, 2023
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It highlighted that India has fallen eight places from 142 to 150 in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index of 180 countries, and said that “such a blatant move to censor the press is a cause of worry at any given time.”
Also read: The Story of India 2022: When Laws Become Weapons in the Hands of the Regime
The new draft amendment to the IT Rules was uploaded on the MeitY website on Tuesday, January 17.
The Indian Express noted that the language of the proposal also suggests that in the future, it may not be just the PIB’s fact-checking unit but also other authorised entities that could mark news items as fake: it says that content that has been marked as misleading by “any other agency authorised by the government for fact-checking” or “in respect of any business of the Centre” will not be allowed on online intermediaries.
“In the national interest, the Government of India must create and nurture and enabling environment for the media to function freely. The media’s constitutional and moral duty is to ensure that citizens know the truth. To undermine the media’s mandate is to undermine democracy itself,” the DIGIPUB statement added.
It, therefore, urged the government to consider withdrawing the proposed amendments.
