How dangerous are Fake News and why is Fact Check important? The government cleared the stand in the court

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The Central Government told the Bombay High Court that false and misleading information has the potential to fuel separatist movements and intensify social and political strife. The government said this while replying to a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra against a change made in the Information Technology Act.

Citing a study, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that false news spreads six times faster than the truth, due to which there was a need to amend the IT rules in 2023.

However, the ministry clarified that the ‘Fact Check’ unit can only direct the removal of false or misleading information related to government policies and programmes, and not interpretation or satire by an artist.

Kamra has claimed in his petition that the new rules could lead to arbitrary blocking of his content or suspension or deactivation of his social media accounts, which would harm him professionally.

Kamra has requested the Bombay High Court to declare the amended rules unconstitutional and issue a direction restraining the government from taking action against any person under the rules.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology insisted in its affidavit that the role of the ‘Fact Check’ unit is limited only to matters related to the Central Government, including information related to policies, schemes, notifications, rules, regulations and implementation etc.

The ministry said, the fact check unit will only identify fake, false and misleading information and not any opinion, satire or interpretation made by the artist. Therefore, the intention of the Government in bringing the relevant provision is quite clear and it is not arbitrary, as alleged by the petitioner (Kamra).

The ministry claimed that false and misleading information can adversely affect electoral democracy, economy and social fabric in many ways and can cause serious and long-term damage to them.

It said that false and misleading information has the potential to fuel separatist movements, intensify social and political conflict, and undermine public faith in democratic institutions.

The ministry said that in matters involving public interest, misleading content on social media platforms affects citizens’ perception of reality and raises doubts about the actions and intentions of a democratically elected government.

The affidavit filed by the ministry said that in the context of the Centre’s endeavor to ensure that correct information is available to the public with regard to government business, it is important to recognize that information that is false (or fake) and misleading Yes, it spreads many times faster than factually correct information.

The affidavit cited a study that showed fake information was 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than true news on Twitter, and that false news reached 1,500 people six times faster than the truth. Are.

The central government said that most of the news-related content used on major social media platforms in India is generated by ordinary users who do not have enough credential to verify the content before publishing it or sharing it with other users. There may be lack of capacity, resources and time.

The government said fake and false news could fuel “mob violence” which “may gradually take the shape of a typhoon-like monster”. It said the amended rules were in the “public interest” and aimed to -Provide a fact-based fact-checking system.

The affidavit states that the government has not yet notified the ‘Fact Check’ unit, therefore any contention made in the petition with regard to its modus operandi has no basis and is “premature and incorrect on the part of the petitioner”. given under the assumptions.

The High Court will next hear the matter on Monday. On April 6, the Central Government had made some amendments in the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021.

Under the amendments, the government has provided for the formation of a ‘fact check’ unit to identify fake, false and misleading online content related to it.

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