Editors Guild and AIM welcome Bombay HC quashing amended IT Rules on fake news

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines welcomed the Bombay High Court verdict striking down as unconstitutional the Information Technology Amendment Rules of 2023 on the formation of fact-check units by the government.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules sought to empower the Central government to form a Fact-Check Unit to identify "fake and misleading" information about its business on social media platforms.

Several media organisations, press associations, and digital rights organisations protested these amendments.

In June 2023, AIM, political satirist Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the New Broadcasters & Digital Association filed a petition before the Bombay High Court, challenging the constitutional validity of this provision for being ultra vires the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000), and violating the right to freedom of speech and expression. 

It had raised its concerns in its statement in April last year, stating that amendments to the IT Rules will have deep adverse implications for press freedom in the country.

The Bombay High Court, while observing that the amended rules infringed the right to equality and freedom of speech, also said the rules being vague and broad could cause a "chilling effect" not only on an individual but also on social media intermediaries.

The ruling was passed by Justice A S Chandurkar, who served as a 'tie-breaker judge' after a division bench in January 2024 delivered a split verdict.

In January 2024, the division bench delivered a split verdict, with Justice Patel ruling in favour of petitioners and striking down Rule 3 as unconstitutional, citing concerns about the potential for censorship. Justice Gokhale upheld the validity of the claim because it targeted misinformation. Justice Chandurkar was subsequently appointed to provide a tie-breaker opinion.