According to a draft proposal of India’s IT rules released recently, the government will not permit social media platforms to host any information that is identified as fake or false.
Any information identified as “fake or false” by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), or by any other agency authorised for fact-checking by the government or "by its department in which such business is transacted", would be prohibited under the draft.
Once information was identified as such, social media platforms or other "online intermediaries" would have to "make reasonable efforts" to ensure users do not "host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share" such information.
In October last year, the government announced a panel would be set up to hear complaints from users regarding content moderation decisions of social media firms, which are already required to appoint in-house grievance redressal officers and executives to coordinate with law enforcement officials.
