India to fact-check online posts about government issues

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In India, a government-run agency will monitor and fact-check government-related matters on social media, even though tech giants raised serious concerns about social media last year.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT on Wednesday gazetted amendments to the IT Rules, 2021 to enact into law a proposal to make the fact-checking wing of the Press Information Bureau the exclusive arbiter of truth in New Delhi matters.

Tech companies and other companies serving more than 5 million users in India should not display, store, transmit, or otherwise share information that deceives or misleads users about government or IT-related issues. They are required to make “reasonable efforts.” the ministry said.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (v) of clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 3 of the Information Technology (Interim Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Central Government hereby: Regarding all operations of the central government, for the purpose set forth in the preceding paragraph, the fact-checking department under the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is hereby notified as the fact-checking department of the central government,'' the official gazette notification said. Said.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting established the Fact-Checking Division of the Press Information Bureau in 2019 with the aim of dispelling misinformation on government issues. However, the unit has been criticized for incorrectly labeling information important to the government as misleading.

Relying on government agencies, such as the Press Information Bureau, as the sole source of fact-checking for government operations, without providing clear definitions or providing clear checks and balances, is “open to abuse during the enforcement of the law.'' “This could lead to serious compromises for news organizations,” the Asian Internet Coalition, an industry group representing Meta, Amazon, Google and Apple, warned last year.

The Editors Guild of India and comedian Kunal Kamra recently filed a legal challenge to New Delhi to move forward with the proposal. In his petition, Kamra warned that New Delhi's move could create an environment where social media companies are forced to welcome a “selfish censorship regime”.

Rajiv Chandrasekhar, India's IT minister, asserted last year that the proposal at the time was not aimed at censoring journalism.