- Why in News- Social media platforms and other intermediaries on the Internet are now required to make sure that “fake news” articles about the Union government, deemed and declared as such by PIB, are taken down from their platforms when they are alerted to such posts.
- The changes were notified through the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, amending the IT Rules, 2021.
- Fact check unit would reach out to relevant government departments to get their view on whether a piece of news is fake or not, and take a call accordingly.
- If there is an aggrieved party, and a party that is causing the aggrievement, then Section 79 [of the Information Technology Act, 2000] will not be a safe harbour to prevent a dispute from being adjudicated in the courts.
About Section 79 of the IT Act
- Section 79 says that any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform.
- Key Provisions of IT Rules, 2021:
- Mandates Social Media to Exercise Greater Diligence:
- Broadly, the IT Rules (2021) mandate social media platforms to exercise greater diligence with respect to the content on their platforms.
- Establish a Grievance Officer:
- They are required to establish a grievance redressal mechanism and remove unlawful and unfitting content within stipulated time frames.
- Ensuring Online Safety and Dignity of Users:
- Intermediaries shall remove or disable access within 24 hours of receipt of complaints of contents that exposes the private areas of individuals, show such individuals in full or partial nudity or in sexual act or is in the nature of impersonation including morphed images etc.
- Educating Users about the Privacy Policies:
- The privacy policies of the social media platforms must ensure that users are educated about not circulating copyrighted material and anything that can be construed as defamatory, racially or ethnically objectionable, paedophilic, threatening the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India or friendly relations with foreign states, or violative of any contemporary law.
- Key Amendments to IT Rules, 2021
- New Guidelines for Social Media Intermediaries:
- Currently, intermediaries are only required to inform users about not uploading certain categories of harmful/unlawful content. These amendments impose a legal obligation on intermediaries to take reasonable efforts to prevent users from uploading such content.
- Amendments to the Rule 3:
- The grounds in subclause 1 of rule 3 (rule 3(1)(b)(ii)) have been rationalized by removing the words ‘defamatory’ and ‘libellous’.
- Whether any content is defamatory or libellous will be determined through judicial review.
- Establishment of Grievance Appellate Committee(s):
- Grievance Appellate Committee(s) will be established to allow users to appeal against the inaction of, or decisions taken by intermediaries on user complaints. However, users will always have the right to approach courts for any remedy.
