NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed government‘s notification on “Fact Checking Unit” till a third judge of Bombay high court gives verdict after hearing the legality of rules activating the FCU. The third judge is hearing the case after a division bench of the high court delivered a split verdict on validity of FCU.
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The Centre had on Wednesday notified the fact check unit under the Press Information Bureau as the authorised unit for the Union government. It was notified under the recently amended Information and Technology Rules of 2021.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud set aside the March 11 order of the Bombay high court which had refused to grant interim stay on setting up the FCU under the amended IT Rules to identify fake and false content on social media about the Union government.
“We are of the considered view that questions before the HC deal with core questions on Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution,” the bench said.
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“We are of the view that notification dated March 20, 2024, after rejection of application of interim relief, needs to be stayed. The challenge to the validity of 3(1)(b)(5) involves serious constitutional question and the impact of the rule on free speech and expression would need to be analysed by the high court,” the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.
The ministry of electronics and information technology had notified the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check Unit as the designated body to flag misinformation about Central government departments to social media platforms.
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Under the IT Rules of 2021, social media platforms could lose the legal liability protections they enjoy for content posted by users, if they choose to keep notified misinformation available online.
