INS urges Centre to drop proposed amendments to IT Rules

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) on Tuesday demanded that the Centre drop the proposed draft amendment to the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The amendment set out to empower the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to police the factual accuracy of reports on social media.

The INS, an umbrella body of India’s press, said the amendment could “give rise to mischief as it will allow the Central government to arm itself with powers to proscribe any criticism of its actions”, muzzle criticism and even fair comment of the government. It asked the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) to initiate consultations with stakeholders to create a mechanism that,