India court seeks gov’t response on comic’s challenge to IT rules

An Indian court has directed the government to respond to an appeal submitted by a comedian challenging recent changes to the country’s Information Technology (IT) rules, which prevent social media platforms from hosting information that the government terms “fake”.

The rules dictate that social media platforms “make reasonable efforts” to not “publish, share or host” any information relating to the government that is identified as “fake, false or misleading” by a government-appointed fact-checking unit.

The Bombay High Court, hearing a petition filed by comedian Kunal Kamra, on Tuesday asked the government to file a reply on the plea and scheduled the next hearing for April 21.

“There may be many interpretations of a certain thing or statement but that doesn’t make it false or fake,” Justice GS Patel said during the hearing, news website Live Law reported.

In his petition, Kamra said the amendments “constitute unreasonable restrictions to freedom of speech and expression”.

He further stated that the move would lead to an “unreasonable restriction” on his “fundamental right to practice trade or profession” since he relies on social media platforms to share his content.

The amendments could lead to his content being “arbitrarily blocked” or taken down, or his accounts being suspended or deactivated, Kamra stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been in repeated tussles with various social media platforms when they failed to take down certain content or accounts that it accused of spreading misinformation.

The IT rules have led to concern in several quarters, including among opposition party leaders and the press.

The Editors Guild of India on Friday said the “draconian rules” gave sweeping powers to the government and were “akin to censorship”.

Government officials, however, dismissed these concerns and assured fact-checking would be done in a credible manner.