Rules in place to deal with fake news dangers, Centre tells HC

NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that it is aware of the dangers of fake news on social media platforms and rules have been framed under the Intermediaries Guidelines — which regulate social media platforms — to deal with the issue.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) also told the High Court that any unlawful content on social media platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter, is to be disabled by a court order, a government notification or by the websites’ own grievance officers for violation of their policies or terms of use.

The submissions have been made by the Ministry in reply to the PIL by former RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya seeking directions to the Centre, Google, Facebook and Twitter to ensure the removal of fake news and hate speech circulated on these and other online platforms as well as disclosure of their designated officers in India.

Govindacharya has also moved an application, through advocate Virag Gupta, seeking removal of illegal groups like ‘bois locker room’ from social media platforms for the safety and security of children in cyberspace.

The Ministry has said that according to the Intermediary Guidelines, grievance officers of the websites are bound to redress complaints within one month of receiving them. It has contended that in the present case the alleged unlawful content — relating to ‘bois locker room’ -- would come under the guidelines for due diligence by an intermediary or social media platform.