SC Stays Fact Check Units By Centre In Kunal Kamra's Plea Against New IT Rules 2023
Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification of Fact Check Units (FCUs) by Centre.
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification of Fact Check Units (FCUs) by Centre. "We are clearly of view that the notification of FCUs by Centre needs to be stayed," the CJI DY Chandrachud asserted while dictating order. This comes a day after Centre notfied the constitution of Fact Check Units on Wednesday.
The top court was hearing petitions filed Political satirist and comedian Kunal Kamra, Association of Indian Magazines, News Broadcasters of Digital Association & Editor's Guild of India seeking an interim stay on Fact-Check Units under the new IT Amendment Rules 2023.
The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud observed that the "challenge pending before High Court implicates four values protected by Article 19. Since all the issues await the adjudication by High Court, we are desisting from expressing any opinion on merits which may have impact of foreclosing..."
The CJI led bench was told that the tie-breaker judge Justice Chandurkar has directed for the listing of the matter on April 15.
On Wednesday, the Centre notified the Fact Check Unit under the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to monitor content on social media concerning its business under the recently amended Information Technology Rules.
SG Tushar Mehta appearing for Centre told the court that while the notification came yesterday, process had started much earlier.
In April 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the new IT Rules 2023. According to these new rules, the government can ask social media intermediaries (like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to remove any news related to the ‘business of the Central government’ that was identified as ‘fake, false, or misleading’ by FCU.
On January 31, the Bombay High Court delivered a split verdict on the pleas by satirist Kunal Kamra and others challenging the new IT Amendment Rules, 2023. The matter was then placed before a tie-breaker third judge Justice AS Chandurkar. He is yet to give judgment on the split verdict given by two-judge bench of the Bombay High Court. Kamra along with other petitioners moved top court to seek stay on forming of FCUs till this tie-breaker verdict is given.
SG Tushar Mehta told the court that no intermediary has moved the court against the new rules.
The petitioners said that the intermediaries are guided by there commercial interest and would take down content flagged by Centre which will have a chilling affect on free speech. They have contended that the rule in question is in violation of Article 19. They said that the version of the government becomes the only version if these rules are implemented.
Kamra had moved the Supreme Court seeking an interim stay on the contitution of FCUs by Centre under the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 (IT Rules 2023). This move by Kamra comes after the Bombay High Court refused to stay the notification by Centre to form FCUs till the final verdict is out on the constitutionality of IT Amendment Rules 2023.
The Bombay High Court judge Justice AS Chandurkar ruled that formation of Fact Check Units (FCU) will not be stayed till he gives his final opinion on the constitutionality of the new IT Rules 2023.
According to Kamra's petition, the new IT Rules 2023 are in conflict with Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) and the Supreme Court's judgment in Shreya Singhal v Union of India (2015) case.
The said section is a provision that protects social media intermediaries from liability for content posted by users. Under Section 79(3), the social media intermediaries must remove content when asked by the Centre. However, Kamra has said that according to the Shreya Singhal judgment the Centre can issue such notifications only through a court order.
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