A new IT fact-checking team won’t suppress journalism in India
A federal minister stated that the proposed Indian government unit to fact-check stories on social media is not about restricting journalists and won’t have any influence on media reportage. A recently revised IT rule mandates that websites like Facebook and Twitter run by Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O) ‘make reasonable efforts’ to not ‘publish, share, or host’ any information about the government that is ‘fake, false, or misleading.’
A federal minister stated on 14 April that the proposed Indian government unit to fact-check stories on social media is not about restricting journalists and won’t have any influence on media reportage.
A recently revised IT rule mandates that websites like Facebook and Twitter run by Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O) ‘make reasonable efforts’ to not ‘publish, share, or host’ any information about the government that is ‘fake, false, or misleading.’
Press freedom groups vehemently oppose the government-appointed unit, while Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s minister of state for IT, stated in an online conversation that it was ‘not true’ that it was intended to ‘censor journalism’.
The Editors Guild of India called the action tyrannical and resembling censorship.
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