On January 17, 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed yet another amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021). These amendments dated 17.01.2023 to the IT Rules, 2021 (Proposed Amendments) seek to introduce a new category for the take down of social media content and news media content, i.e. any information that has been identified as ‘fake’ or ‘false’ by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), or any other agency of the Union Government, to which the news story relates. This will heavily impact the freedom of speech, expression and information online, and will make the Union Government the final arbiter of what news may be published and what must be removed.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/meity-proposes-another-amendment-to-the-it-rules-pibs-fact-check-team-will-be-able-to-take-down-fake-news/