New IT Rules: 16 groups join hands against govt-run fact-checking unit

Sixteen organisations, including Amnesty International, Access Now and Human Rights Watch, on Tuesday, issued a joint statement opposing the latest amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2022, under which the government proposes to establish a fact-checking unit for government news, Economic Times reported.

The new IT Rules will censor journalism and severely jeopardise freedom of expression, the groups said in a statement.

“India’s new IT Rules amendment effectively empowers the government to be the judge and the jury on online content pertaining to itself. Fake, false and misleading are subjective terms with no legal definition.