News: The Bombay High Court has struck down an amendment to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in defence of the right to freedom of speech and expression and the likely violation of safe harbour provisions.
1. Major Provisions of the amended rules-
a. Creation of Fact Check Unit (FCU) by the Central Government to identify fake news.
b. Obligation on the part of the digital intermediaries (Facebook, Twitter) to not publish, share or host fake information in respect of any business of central government. The intermediaries were supposed to take down contents deemed as fake news by FCU.
2. Safe Harbour Provisions: They originate from Section 79 of the IT Act 2000, aiming to protect intermediaries from liability for third party information, data, or communication links they host or make available.
