New Delhi
\nThe Editors Guild of India (EGI), India\u2019s premier body for protecting press freedom, has urged the government to reject a proposal to combat fake news on social media, saying it would be akin to censorship.
\n\u201cDetermination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in the censorship of the press\u201d, the editor\u2019s group said in a statement on Wednesday.
\nThe proposed amendment by the Ministry of Electronics and IT to Information Technology Rules, 2021, would bar social media platforms from hosting any information that the authorities identify as false in the latest measures by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government.
\nThe draft amendment issued on Tuesday said that information deemed \u201cfake or false\u201d by the Press Information Bureau or by any other agency authorised for fact-checking by the government would be prohibited.
\nIf information is deemed as such, social media platforms or other \u201conline intermediaries\u201d would have to \u201cmake reasonable efforts\u201d to ensure users do not \u201chost, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share\u201d such information, it added.
\nThe government will hold a consultation with stakeholders to discuss the amendment on January 24, and has also invited \u201ccomments from stakeholders and general public\u201d until January 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi The Editors Guild of India (EGI), India\u2019s premier body for protecting press freedom, has urged the government to reject a proposal to combat fake news on social media, saying it would be akin to censorship. \u201cDetermination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-308701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n