The Bombay High Court has expressed reservations about the recently amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, stating that they may be excessive and raise questions about the government's absolute power to determine what is fake or misleading on social media platforms. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale raised these concerns while hearing petitions challenging the amended rules.
The court emphasized that in a democratic process, citizens have the fundamental right to question, doubt, and demand answers from the government, and it is the government's duty to respond. It questioned the need for the amendment and highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the boundaries and criteria for identifying fake, false, and misleading content.
Advocate Gautam Bhatia, representing the Association of Indian Magazines, argued that there are less restrictive alternatives available to address fake content on social media. The court agreed that some level of fact-checking is necessary but expressed concerns about the excessive nature of the rules.
The court also questioned how the government-authorized FCU could have the final say in determining the truthfulness of content. It emphasized that apart from a court of law, no authority should have the power to declare what is true or false. The court pointed out that even without the amendment, the government already has the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to address false or fake content on social media.
The high court further highlighted the lack of clarity in the rules and posed hypothetical scenarios, such as whether an opposing view on the implications of a law could be ordered to be taken down as fake or misleading. It emphasized that citizens have the right to defend the correctness of their statements and that the government cannot unilaterally decide what is true or false.
The next hearing is scheduled for July 27, when Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta will present arguments on behalf of the Union government. The court extended the stay on notifying the Fact Checking Unit until July 28. The petitions seek to declare the amended rules unconstitutional and prevent the government from taking action against individuals under the rules.
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