SC stays Centre’s notification on fact checking unit

New Delhi, March 21

A day after the Centre notified setting up a fact checking unit (FCU) under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to identify fake news about it, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed it amid concerns expressed by media organisations and civil society groups about its possible misuse for potential censorship.

The FCU was notified on Wednesday under IT Rules, 2021. A Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud set aside the March 11 order of the Bombay HC which had refused to restrain the Centre from setting up the FCU under the amended IT Rules to identify fake and false content on digital media about the Central Government. “We are of the view that questions before the HC deal with core questions on Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution,” it said, adding the stay shall operate till the Bombay High Court finally decides the challenge to the IT Amendment Rules, 2023.

The order came on petitions filed by the Editors Guild of India and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra challenging the Bombay HC’s order. Kamra’s counsel Darius Khambata argued that a fact-checking unit only for the government, and not for others, was arbitrary.