[Answered] Misinformation is a clear and present danger to the goal of a safe internet, and Government is well-placed to handle it. In the light of the statement, discuss the significance of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

Internet has allowed unfettered user-generated information and communication, which has allowed the evil of misinformation to spread all around. Misinformation refers to the deliberate effort to spread incorrect or misleading information that are deceptive. Government has notified amendments to Information Technology Rules, 2021, to deal with the nuisance of misinformation on the internet.

Amendments to Information Technology Rules, 2021:

• Ministry of Electronics and IT can appoint a fact-check body, which will label information on online platforms related to the central government as fake or misleading.
• Any online intermediary including social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter should make efforts to not host content related to the Central Government that have been identified as fake or misleading by the ‘fact check unit’, failing which they will risk losing their safe harbour against third-party content.

Significance of the amendments:

• The amendment strengthens the architecture to counter the flood of misinformation present on the internet related to the government activities and initiatives. However, any executive body should not be given the power to have the final say in a matter involving government.
• The amendment will deter the individuals and shore up the efforts of the social media platforms to discourage misinformation. It will push the platforms to use various technology tools such as Artificial Intelligence and Data analysis to proactively flag false information and prevent it from spreading. For example – Twitter has Birdwatch feature to report misinformation.

Way Forward:

• Details on the composition of the fact-check unit should be made public, so that the doubts over credibility of the unit will be addressed. There are serious doubts if the unit will be subservient to political interests of the government, since it is not an autonomous body.
• There should also be some provision for remedial action over the unit in case of mala-fide action. The lack of such provision dilutes accountability, and the vision of open, safe & trusted and accountable internet will not be realised.