Lok Sabha Question No. 545 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Fake News
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Nayab Singh, (Dr.) Ram Shankar Katheria, Uday Pratap Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 545

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2021

## FAKE NEWS

## 545 SHRI NAYAB SINGH: SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH: DR. RAM SHANKAR KATHERIA

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is going to take concrete step to prevent the spread of rumors and fake news through various medium and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has formulated any plan to set up any monitoring system in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the plan of the Government to ensure data protection of Indians?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and  (b):Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  address  the  challenges  to  prevent  the spread of rumours and fake news through various media. These, inter alia , include:

- (i) A  Fact  Check  Unit  has  been  setup  under  Press  Information  Bureau  of  Ministry  of Information and Broadcasting in November, 2019. This Unit takes cognizance of fake news both suo-motu and by way of queries sent by citizens on its portal or through email and whatsapp. The Unit responds to the relevant queries with correct information when the same pertains to Central Government or forwards them to States/UTs in other cases. The Unit also maintains a twitter account @PlBFactcheck and posts cases of fake news, being busted, on the same on regular basis. The Fact Check Unit of PIB covers news on various media platforms, including electronic media.
- (ii) With regards to complaint of fake news in print media, the Press Council of India (PCI) takes  action  under  the  Press  Council  Act,  1978  and  Press  Council  (Procedure  for Inquiry) Regulations, 1979. PCI has also developed the Norms of Journalists Conduct for adherence by the print media to restrain publication of fake/defamatory/misleading news.
- (iii) With  regard  to  electronic  media,  the  Cable  Television  Networks  (Regulations)  Act, 1995  and  the  Rules  made  there  under  inter  alia  provide  that  no  programme  shall  be carried out which  contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggesting innuendoes and half truths.
- (iv) The Government has notified the Cable TV Network (Amendment) Rule, 2021 dated 17-06-2021 laying down a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances relating to violation of the Programme Code and Advertising Code and for action by Government for such violation.

Government takes action in cases where Programme/ Advertising Codes are found to be  violated  by  the  private  TV  Channels,  including  issuance  of  advisory,  warning, running an apology scroll and in extreme cases, directing the channel to be off air for a certain time duration.

- (v) Government,  on  25.02.2021  has  notified  the  Information  Technology  (Intermediary Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code)  Rules,  2021  under  the  Information Technology Act, 2000. These Rules require that the intermediaries follow certain due diligence as prescribed. They are required to publish privacy policy and terms of use of their  platform.  They  are  required  to  inform  their  users  not  to  host,  display,  upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, and unlawful in any way. They are also required to remove any unlawful content related to Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India or violative of any law, as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its agency.The Rules also require that publishers of news shall observe the Code of Ethics which includes adherence to :

(a) Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India under the Press Council Act, 1978;

(b) Programme  Code  under  section 5 of the Cable Television  Networks Regulation) Act, 1995;

(c) Content which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force shall not be published or transmitted.

- (vi) Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 empowers Government to block any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above.
- (vii) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) through a programme,  namely,  Information  Security  Education  &  Awareness  (ISEA),  has been creating awareness among users highlighting the importance of following the ethics  while  using  Internet  and  advising  them  not  to  share  rumors/fake  news.  A dedicated website for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides all the relevant awareness material.

(c): Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 establishes a legal framework for data protection in India. Section 43A provides for compensation to be paid to the victim in case of  wrongful loss or wrongful  gain caused due to negligence in implementing and maintaining reasonable  security  practices  and  procedures  by  a  body  corporate  in  dealing  with  sensitive personal data.

Further,  this  Ministry  has  already  introduced  the  Personal  Data  protection  Bill,  2019  in Parliament during the winter session of 2019. The Bill has been referred to a Joint Committee of the Parliament.

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