Editors Guild welcomes Supreme Court stay on notification setting up PIB's fact-checking unit

The apex court had stayed the notification setting up a fact-checking unit under the PIB to identify fake news about the Union government.

New Delhi: Editors Guild of India on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's order staying the Centre's notification setting up a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to identify fake news about the Central government.

The fact check unit was notified on March 20 under Information Technology Rules, 2021, by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, amid concerns voiced by civil society groups and media outlets about the possibility of its misuse for potential censorship.

"EGI welcomes the stay on the Fact Checking Unit under the IT Rules 2021, by the Supreme Court of India," the Guild said in a statement here.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification setting up a fact-checking unit under the PIB to identify fake news about the Union government.