Free Speech Check Unit – Government being judge, jury & executioner

Source – This post on Free Speech Check Unit-Government being judge, jury & executioner has been created based on the article “Express View on SC stay on Fact Check Unit: Judge, jury, executioner” published in “The Indian Express” on 23 March 2024.

UPSC Syllabus – GS Paper 2 – Indian Constitution – Historical Underpinnings, Evolution and Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies.

News– The Supreme Court has recently stayed a government notification setting up a Fact Checking Unit (FCU).

Context– Government of India has notified the PIB’s Fact-Check Unit (PIB-FCU) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) as the fact check unit of the Central Government.

What is Fact-check unit?

Establishment-It was established under the Press Information Bureau in November 2019.

Objective-To act as a deterrence to creators and disseminators of fake news and misinformation.

What are the issues with setting up of fact-check Unit by the Government of India?

1)  Violative of freedom of speech and expression– There are concerns that PIB’s fact-check unit and its power to censor content may have a chilling effect on free speech and expression provided under Art 19(1)(a). Democratic politics is an open contestation of ideas and personalities.

2) Suppressing dissent- It is not required to provide written orders detailing its reasoning for taking certain actions. This provision can be used to suppress inconvenient journalism, dissent and disagreement.

3) Violation of separation of power- As it plays the role of judge, jury and executioner, it usurps the role of the courts in dealing with fake news. This is violative of the principle of separation of power.

4) Ambiguity on definitions– There is lack of a clear definition of what types of information qualify as ‘fake or false or misleading ‘. This lack of clarity creates ambiguity and can lead to arbitrary censorship by the government.

Read more- PIB’s Fact-Check Unit

Question for practice

How can Fact Checking Unit suppress freedom of speech and expression?