{"id":224283,"date":"2023-01-30T23:04:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?page_id=224283"},"modified":"2023-01-30T23:12:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:42:42","slug":"answered-misinformation-and-disinformation-are-serious-threats-in-modern-democratic-societies-but-recently-announced-draft-amendments-to-information-technology-rules-are-harmful-to-modern-democrati","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-misinformation-and-disinformation-are-serious-threats-in-modern-democratic-societies-but-recently-announced-draft-amendments-to-information-technology-rules-are-harmful-to-modern-democrati\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] Misinformation and disinformation are serious threats in modern democratic societies, but recently announced draft amendments to Information Technology rules are harmful to modern democratic societies. Critically evaluate."},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"616\"><strong>Introduction:\u00a0<\/strong>Contextual introduction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Body:\u00a0<\/strong>Write some significance of new amendments to IT Rules. Also write some issues that are harmful to modern democratic societies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong>: Write a way forward.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed a draft rule \u2013 Rule of the amended version of the <strong>IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.<\/strong>The proposed rule requires social media platforms to take down content that has been \u201cfact-checked\u201d by the Press Information Bureau\u2019s (PIB) fact-check unit (or any other agency authorised by the Central Government) as false.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Significance:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Grievance Appellate Committee:\u00a0<\/strong>It will be tasked with dealing with \u201cproblematic content\u201d in an expeditious manner. This will lead to the<strong>empowerment of citizens.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It\u00a0<strong>requires intermediaries to respect rights guaranteed to users<\/strong> under the\u00a0Constitution of India.<\/li>\n<li>Government has proposed the requirement by intermediaries to address certain complaints regarding<strong>the removal of content from a platform within 72 hours<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It will ensure that social media platforms have to <strong>keep\u00a0better checks and balances<\/strong> over their platforms. This will ensure the data is not shared unlawfully. This will ensure <strong>adherence to the\u00a0rule of law.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This will\u00a0<strong>enhance accountability<\/strong>and prevent arbitrary actions by digital platforms like\u00a0the recent one by Twitter.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disinformation (Fake and wrong information)\u00a0of data<\/strong>can be controlled. This will reduce instances of fake news, violence, the spread of defamatory content and disruption of public order.<\/li>\n<li>The imposition of print and electronic code of conduct on digital news media would ensure a\u00a0level playing field\u00a0for every media.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Harmful to modern democratic societies:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Powers of censorship:<\/strong> It will allow the government to order digital intermediaries to take down posts it deems fake, without any forum for appeal or redressal. This goes <strong>against the letter and spirit of the freedom of speech and expression <\/strong>enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution.<\/li>\n<li>The PIB is a <strong>government agency<\/strong>, and it is not the government\u2019s role to play editor.<\/li>\n<li>The PIB\u2019s record thus far in \u201cflagging\u201d misinformation has been <strong>far from perfect<\/strong>. There have been several instances that the PIB flagged as \u201cfake news\u201d where it later turned out to be mistaken. If it issues takedown orders under a legal architecture that provides no room for appeal, the same errors become constitutionally untenable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Way forward:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>They <strong>need to arrive at a<\/strong><strong>balance<\/strong>\u00a0between the rights of persons who post and those they offend.<\/li>\n<li>The industry can establish a\u00a0<strong>self-regulatory appellate body<\/strong>to which appeals from all content moderation decisions can be referred.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction:\u00a0Contextual introduction. Body:\u00a0Write some significance of new amendments to IT Rules. Also write some issues that are harmful to modern democratic societies. Conclusion: Write a way forward. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed a draft rule \u2013 Rule of the amended version of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-misinformation-and-disinformation-are-serious-threats-in-modern-democratic-societies-but-recently-announced-draft-amendments-to-information-technology-rules-are-harmful-to-modern-democrati\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">[Answered] Misinformation and disinformation are serious threats in modern democratic societies, but recently announced draft amendments to Information Technology rules are harmful to modern democratic societies. Critically evaluate.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-224283","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/224283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/224283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}