The Bombay High Court on Thursday formally struck down the amended Information Technology Rules, 2023, which empowered the Centre to set up a fact check unit (FCU) to identify fake, false and misleading information about the government and its establishments on social media.
A Division Bench of judges comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Neela Gokhale of the Bombay High Court observed, “In view of the majority opinion, the rule 3(1)(v) is declared unconstitutional and is struck down. “
This move by the Bench comes days after the tie-breaker judge, Justice Chandurkar pronounced his opinion on September 20, 2024, after a split verdict was delivered by a Division Bench of Justices Gautam Patel (now retired) and Neela Gokhale on January 31, 2024.
Fact-Check Initiative
The Ministry of Electronics and IT attempted to set up an FCU for identifying fake news on the internet as part of the amendments in May 2023.
These amendments sought to grant the FCU authority to label online content related to the government as “fake or misleading” and order intermediaries to take down such content to retain their “safe harbour” or legal immunity against third-party content. Comedian Kunal Kamra petitioned the Bombay Court against the FCU stating that the new rules announced by the Centre could potentially lead to his content being arbitrarily blocked or his social media accounts being suspended or deactivated.
The Editors Guild of India, New Broadcast and Digital Association and Association of Indian Magazines have filed similar petitions in the matter.
Petitioners argued that the FCU could suppress free speech and lead to arbitrary censorship. Kamra’s petition contended that the rules could unjustly restrict his content, infringing on his right to freedom of expression and his profession.