Govt considers banning news identified as ‘fake’ on social media

The government will not permit social media platforms to host any information that it identifies as false, according to a draft proposal of the country’s IT rules released this week.

This is the latest in a slew of measures by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that are being seen as efforts to rein in big tech firms.

Any information identified as “fake or false” by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), or by any other agency authorised for fact-checking by the government or “by its department in which such business is transacted”, would be prohibited under the draft.