Will pass order in pleas challenging IT Rules on Dec 1: Bombay HC

A Division Bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by political satirist Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines and regional channels, challenging the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.

The Bombay High Court on September 29 said it will pass the order on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the amended Information Technology Rules on December 1.

A Division Bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by political satirist Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines and regional channels, challenging the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.

The new Rules require social media intermediaries to censor or otherwise modify content that relates to the Central government if a government-mandated fact-checking unit (FCU) directs them to do so. The FCU would have powers to decide if the content on social media is fake, false, or misleading.

In April, Solicitor-General of India Tushar Mehta had said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will not notify the FCU till the court decides the matter.

Also read | Draconian rules: On the impact of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023

The court wondered what part of the information would be fake if a news website puts out content on social media and the FCU calls it “fake news”. “Then, is the source fake or is the information fake?” the court questioned. “What part of it is fake? Can a valid rule operate under such type of ambiguity? What type of a disclaimer could the intermediary put when content is flagged by the FCU?” the court asked.

The Bench also noted that there is very little to achieve by how expansive the amended IT Rules are. It has been Mr. Mehta’s argument was that the Rules are only related to facts and not opinions, parody etc. “But you have to have a mechanism to reach the truth,” the court remarked.