New Delhi, On Saturday, the former minister of information technology Kapil Sibal slammed the government over the IT Amendment Rules’ fact-checking provisions, claiming that now the government would determine what is fake and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that democracy is not in danger.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, warned that internet companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter risk losing their safe harbour status if they do not take down content that has been flagged as incorrect or misleading by a government-notified fact-checker.
Reacting to the development, Sibal said, “Now PIB will decide what is fake and what is not and notify it. If online platforms choose to ignore, they will lose their immunity from prosecution.”
“Now Government to decide what is fake and what is not! And Amit Shah ji says democracy is not in danger,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Sibal was referring to remarks made by Shah in Uttar Pradesh on Friday when he attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent comments in the UK, saying that it’s not democracy that is in danger but “your family” and the idea of dynasty politics.
According to Chandrasekhar, the IT ministry will alert an agency which will report incorrect information about the government that has been placed online. Chandrasekhar brushed off the criticism of the regulation modification as intentional false information.
