Govt to notify fact check body through Meity

As per new IT rules, intermediaries are required to take down objectionable content if they want to enjoy safe-harbour status

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday that the Information Technology Ministry will notify an organisation that will work as a fact checker for online content related to the government and on intermediaries.

“Government has decided to notify an entity through Meity and that organisation then would be the fact checker for all aspects of content online and only those that are related to the government,” Chandrasekhar told reporters here.

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As per the new IT rules, intermediaries are required to take down objectionable content if they want to enjoy safe-harbour status. This means that if an intermediary, such as a website or an app, wants to be protected from legal action related to the content posted by its users, it must remove any content that is deemed objectionable.

However, the minister said that the final rule is still in the works.