The Supreme Court on Tuesday proposed that it would rule on the legality of the proposal made by the Union government to create a Fact-Check Unit (FCU) to detect fake or misleading information regarding government business. The court noted that citizens, online platforms and internet intermediaries should have a joint responsibility in terms of suppressing abusive or deceptive information spreading on the internet.
The appeal by the Centre to the September 2024 ruling of the Bombay High Court was admitted by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi. A provision under which the government could notify such a fact-check unit was previously declared invalid by the high court according to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Notices were also sent by the Supreme Court to comedian Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines who had appealed the rule in high court earlier. At the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had sought the high court to hold back its decision, but the bench refused and instead added that it was going to put an end to it.
The court observed that the case presents serious constitutional issues, especially when it comes to the freedom of speech and regulation of online information. It emphasized the need to ensure there is a balance between misinformation deterrence and constitutional safeguards.
There was also the concern of the bench regarding the spread of harmful content through digital platforms since it is no longer a question of damaging an individual but can also be applied to the national interests. The court indicated that a new regulatory framework should specify the roles of the government, digital platforms and users.
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