'Akin To Censorship': Editors Guild Urges Centre To Withdraw 'Draconian' Amendments To IT Rules

As per the recently amended rules, the IT ministry has given itself power to constitute a "fact checking unit" that will give it “absolute powers” to determine what is "fake or false or misleading".

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

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New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India said it was "deeply disturbed" by the "draconian" amendments to the Information Technology rules, notified by the Centre, giving it "absolute power" to determine fake news. In a statement, the Guild urged the government to withdraw the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules and hold consultations with the media organisations and press bodies, as it had promised earlier, news agency PTI reported.

As per the recently amended rules, the IT ministry has given itself power to constitute a "fact checking unit" that will give it “absolute powers” to determine what is "fake or false or misleading", with respect to "any business of the Central Government."

"In effect, the government has given itself absolute power to determine what is fake or not, in respect of its own work, and order take down," the statement said.

EGI is disturbed by the amendments notified to the IT Rules 2021, by @GoI_MeitY giving itself authority to constitute a “fact checking unit”, with sweeping powers to determine what is “fake or false” wrt “business of Central Government”, and order take down to intermediaries. pic.twitter.com/8osEyM1RTS

— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) April 7, 2023

"All this is against principles of natural justice, and akin to censorship," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for IT, dismissed concerns that the recent amendments would lead to censorship and assured that the fact checks will be done in a credible way.

He defended the amendment saying “These rules focus on safety, trust and openness of the internet.”

“If they are to enjoy safe harbour under section 79, they have to comply. This is not an attempt to censor content. If there is an aggrieved party then section 79 will not be a safe harbour will not be an excuse to escape responsibility,” Chandrashekar said.

It is to be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre has been in repeated tussles with various social media platforms when they failed to heed demands that certain content or accounts be taken down for allegedly spreading misinformation.