Muzzling free press! Determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of govt: Editors Guild

Mobilenews24x7 Bureau (Exclusive)

It may not be mere coincidence that, voices of dissent has been raised against the Central government by two pillars of democracy in response to the decision of the Centre to oversee the dos and donts in the juducial appointments and, the second and paramount is the news contents, fake or genuine disseminated by the media as a whole.

There is stiff opposition from the Editors’ Guild of India has firmly put its foot to oppose the Union government’s unilateral decision to all the government officials, such as the PIB and so on, to determine the authenticity of the news if fake or otherwise.

The EGI has urged the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) to expunge the draft ammended to IT Rules 2021. Which never permits that a government agency possess the ability for such determiantion which requires thorough knowledge and expertise on the subjects.

Who IS PIB ?

Perhaps, the reponse was a reaction once the MEITy ammended the IT Rules and empowered the Press Information Bureau(PIB) for an important task like “fact Check” to determine whther the news is fake or not.

How can the PIB be empowered to enjoy a sweeping power to direct the Online intermediaries to do away with the contents ” deemed” to be fake. This has been communicated to the MEITy Minister Ashwini Vaishnav by the Guild.

No free press at last!

Which indirectly can be construed that, there would be a blanket ban of sorts on media contents that may grow to become a tool to muzzle the media online. The EIG has stressed upon that ”  . At the outset, determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in the censorship of the press. Already multiple laws exist to deal with content that is found to be factually incorrect. This new procedure basically serves to make it easier to muzzle the free press, and will give sweeping powers to the PIB, or any other agency authorised by the Central government for fact checking, to force online intermediaries to take down content that the government may find problematic,” the Editors Guild said.

“Further, the words ‘in respect of any business of the Central government’ seems to give the government a carte blanche to determine what is fake with respect to its own work. This will stifle legitimate criticism of the government and will have an adverse impact on the ability of the press to hold governments to account, which is a vital role it plays in a democracy,” the letter added.

It must be noted that the Guild had raised its deep concerns with the IT Rules when they were first introduced on February 25, 2021, claiming that they empower the Union government to block, delete, or modify published news anywhere in the country without any judicial oversight.

Unreasonable restrictions

“Various provisions in these rules have the potential to place unreasonable restrictions on digital news media, and consequently the media at large. The Guild has included a copy of the representation dated March 6, 2021 for reference.

“The Guild urges the Ministry to expunge this new amendment, and to initiate meaningful consultations with press bodies, media organisations, and other stakeholders, on the regulatory framework for digital media, so as to not undermine press freedom,” the Editors Guild said.

Meanwhile, the government said on Tuesday that it will hold consultations with the stakeholders on rules pertaining to fake news and curbing misinformation next month, before implementing them.

On January 19, the government had said that it will hold consultations with the stakeholders on the proposed amendments to IT rules pertaining to curbing misinformation on January 24.

On the otherside of the fence, the judiciary so far manitains a defeaning silence over the Collegium conundrum when the Centre intends to have the larger say (or full) on the appointment of judges whereas the Centre has more or less made it abundantly clear that, it may have the right and not the judiciary.