Hammer to kill ant? HC on fake news rules

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday said the recently amended Information Technology (IT) Rules against fake content on social media against the government may be excessive, quipping that one cannot bring a hammer to kill an ant.

A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale also said it still does not understand the need behind the amendment to the Rules and stated it finds it difficult that one authority of the government is given absolute power to decide what is fake, false, and misleading.

In a democratic process, the court said, the government is as much a participant as a citizen is and hence a citizen has the fundamental right to question and seek answers and government is duty-bound to respond.

The bench was hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the amended IT Rules. Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines have filed petitions in the HC against the Rules, terming them arbitrary and unconstitutional and claiming they would have a chilling effect on citizens’ fundamental rights.

The court also questioned who will fact-check the Fact Checking Unit (FCU) that is to be set up.

“There is an assumption that what the FCU says is undeniably the ultimate truth,” Justice Patel said.

Advocate Gautam Bhatia, for the Assn of Indian Magazines, said there are less restrictive options available to keep a check on fake content.