Internet Firms to miss Safe Harbour on not removing Flagged Content by Government’s Fact Checker

Minister of State for Electronics and I.T. Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that internet firms like Google, Facebook and Twitter may lose protection under safe harbour if they fail to remove content identified by the government-notified fact-checker as false or misleading information. He also informed that fact-checkers are a reference point to fight against misinformation and rejected arguments that it will adversely impact "free speech."

“If you want section 79 safe harbour protection as an intermediary then you have some obligation. The obligation is that you have to be proactive on misinformation. If you choose to have a disagreement with the fact checker, you can continue to have that on your platform but then the person who has been aggrieved by that disinformation and you will have a legitimate dispute in the court … section 79 was a safe harbour. That will get removed,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

Internet platforms and social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and internet service providers etc fall within the ambit of an intermediary. The safe harbour clause protects intermediaries from legal action on them for any objectionable content posted online by their users. The IT ministry will notify an entity that will flag false information posted online pertaining to the government. Chandrasekhar said “Dos and Don’ts” around fact-checking will be shared before it is notified.