The Editors Guild of India on Wednesday urged the Centre to remove its proposed amendment that would require online platforms to take down any content identified as fake by the Press Information Bureau or any other agency authorised for fact-checking by the government.
The draft proposal was introduced on Tuesday by the Union information technology ministry as an amendment to the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Editors Guild raised concerns about the move, saying that banning news identified as fake only by the government will result in the censorship of the press.
“Already multiple laws exist to deal with content that is found to be factually incorrect,” the press body said. “This new procedure basically serves to make it easier to muzzle the free press…to force online intermediaries to take down content that the government may find problematic.”
EGI is deeply concerned by amendment to IT Rules 2021 made by MEITY, giving authority to PIB to determine veracity of news reports, and directing online intermediaries and social media platforms to take down content deemed as ‘fake’. Guild feels this is akin to censorship. pic.twitter.com/uy49cOwTcT
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) January 18, 2023
The Guild urged the Union information technology ministry to initiate consultations with press bodies, media organisations…
