Fact check: Excessive oversight won't do any good
On Thursday, India’s Supreme Court stayed the government’s notification on setting up a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau with the power to flag what it deems as false information related to the central government and its agencies on social media platforms. The Centre had justified the idea as a regulatory move, effected through amended IT rules for digital intermediaries, against the menace of fake news.
But petitioners saw in it a threat to freedom of speech, accusing the Centre of trying to assume the role of “sole arbiter of truth." The top court ruled in favour of social media freedom, saying that such oversight of what people post would impact the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). Together with Article 14, which promises equality before law, and Article 21, which grants us the right to life and personal liberty, free speech constitutes the Golden Triangle of India’s Constitution, on which Indian democracy is based.
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