Draft IT rule changes will impact press: Indian Newspaper Society

The Indian Newspaper Society on Tuesday expressed concern over the proposed draft amendments to the Information Technology Rules 2021 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The concerns in particular pertain to Clause 3(1)(b)(v), which identifies the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broad­casting, or any other agency authorised by the central government, as the body responsible for checking the factual accuracy of reports appearing on any social media intermediary in respect of any business of the central government. “The Society is of the view that the proposed amendment will seriously impact the functioning of the press in India, and hand over the responsibility of checking statements relating to the central government to an agency of the central government and imbue it with the power of the law. This can give rise to mischief as it will allow the central government to arm itself with powers to proscribe any criticism of its actions.”

“By its own definition, the PIB is the nodal agency of the Centre to dissem­inate information on government policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements’,” it added.