Digital intermediaries seek govt blessings for private fact-checking body

digital intermediaries

A group of digital intermediaries called the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) has sought the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's (MeitY) blessings for a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) that would fact-check online content not related to the government.

Interestingly, this happened yesterday (April 6), the same day the ministry notified a rule to allow the government to appoint a fact-checking body for government-related information on the internet.

"The government has to dive deep into the proposal made by the digital intermediaries and see if they align with our expectations from an SRO," said an official in the know.

The ministry's expectations are two-folds — first that any fact-checking SRO of the intermediaries has to be accountable to the government in India and not just be accredited by a foreign body.

The second is to prevent and take action on nine types of illegal content, including any content that is misleading or untrue, can disturb public order, is harmful to children, is pornographic, etc, on the platforms that the ministry had specified to the industry in October 2022.

These content types were a part of the IT Rules amendments brought by the government in 2021 and said that digital intermediaries are required to make 'reasonable efforts' to remove such information from their platforms.

"We have received in-principal support for MCA’s efforts from some of the major intermediaries. The MCA will adopt a multi-stakeholder consultative approach and work on developing principles and standards for independent, non-partisan and transparent fact checking and establish the SRO," the industry body said in a statement yesterday.

Last year, when the intermediaries failed to come to a consensus on forming an SRO which could align with the two broad requirements above, the government brought a new rule that allows it to create grievance appellate committees for the redressal of users' concerns regarding online content.

Three such panels have already been notified and an online portal for them to accept user grievances was launched recently.

As part of a new set of amendments to the Information Technology Rules notified on April 6, the government apprised a rule that says it will appoint an organisation that will be a fact checker of content related to the government for all intermediaries.

Reacting to the notification, the activist organisation Internet Freedom Foundation, said "Assigning any unit of the government such arbitrary, overbroad powers to determine the authenticity of online content bypasses the principles of natural justice, thus making it an unconstitutional exercise."

"The notification of these amended rules cement the chilling effect on the fundamental right to speech and expression, particularly on news publishers journalists, activists, etc," it added.