Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Issues Clarification On Amended IT Rules Against 'Fake News'

The Centre had earlier issued notifications regarding amendments to the IT Rules related to online gaming and the spread of false and misleading information regarding government business.

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New Delhi: After a controversy arose over the Centre's notification on Thursday that fake news about the Union government would be forcibly taken down and the agency that would declare content as fake news would be the Press Information Bureau, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday clarified that the rules notified yesterday do not mention "PIB Fact Check".

Centre's clarification on new amendment to IT Rules

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar's response came against the backdrop of various reports, claiming that as per the amended Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 social media platforms and other intermediaries will now have to make sure that "fake news" articles about the Centre, declared as such by PIB, are taken down from their platforms once alerted.

The minister said that the rules do not suggest that the agency declaring fake news will be PIB Fact Check. "The rules do not at all suggest that it`s going to be PIB Fact Check. I think some of the grey area, or indeed the misapprehension, comes from the fact that the original draft of the rule that went for consultation talked about PIB Fact check. The rules that were notified yesterday do not mention PIB Fact Check," Chandrashekhar told ANI.

Amendment to IT Rules on 'fake news' related to government business

He said, "So we have yet to take a decision on whether it will be a new organization that has trust and credibility associated with it, or do we take an old organization and repurpose it to build trust and credibility in terms of a fact-checking mission." Earlier on Thursday, the Centre issued notifications regarding amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, related to online gaming and spread of false and misleading information regarding government business.

As per the amended rules, it has been made obligatory on the part of intermediaries to make reasonable effort to not host, publish or share any online game that can cause the user harm, or that has not been verified as a permissible online game by an online gaming self-regulatory body/bodies designated by the Central Government.

The intermediary will also have to ensure that no advertisement or surrogate advertisement or promotion of an online game that is not a permissible online game, is hosted on its platform. Apart from it, the amended rules now also make it obligatory for the intermediaries to not to publish, share or host fake, false or misleading information in respect of any business of the Central Government.

"These fake, false or misleading information will identified by the notified Fact Check Unit of the Central Government. it is to be noted that the existing IT rules already required the intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature," the IT ministry said in a press note.

"The rules already cast an obligation on intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature," it added.