Intermediary Rules: Won't Notify Fact-Checking Unit Till July 5, Says Government

The Union government will not notify a fact-checking unit until July 5, the additional solicitor general submitted before the Bombay High Court on Thursday.

The court was hearing the case of comedian Kunal Kamra, who is seeking a stay on the changes to the intermediary guidelines notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Communication earlier this month.

Several amendments have been made to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. One of them makes it obligatory for intermediaries to not publish, share, or host fake, false, or misleading information with respect to any business of the central government. Intermediaries who fail to do so will lose safe harbour protection under the rules.

According to the rules, fake, false, or misleading information will be identified by the notified Fact Check Unit.

Kamra had approached the high court, saying the rule is a violation of the fundamental right to speech and expression as it doesn't provide sufficient safeguards against parody or satire. He had argued that the rules are discriminatory as they differentiate between false information about the central government and other false information. He said the government is acting as a judge in its own cause, in violation of the principles of natural justice.

Senior Advocate Darius Khambata, arguing for Kamra, sought clarification from the government on whether the rules would be applied prospectively. If such an assurance is not given, it would have a chilling effect on the people constantly engaged in political discourse, he had argued.

The court, however, refused to entertain this plea since the fact-check unit hasn't been set up yet. The rules wouldn't be operational without such an entity and therefore require no relief, it pointed out.

"If somebody chooses to be chilled, it's on him," the court remarked. "We will take this up as the first argument in the final hearing."

However, it allowed Kamra's plea to amend the petition to challenge the competence of the executive to come up with such amendments. The court will next hear the matter on June 8.