The Supreme Court on March 10 agreed to examine the Centre’s challenge to the Bombay High Court’s verdict that struck down the amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2023 aimed at regulating fake and untrue content on social media against the government.
However, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Bombay High Court’s 2024 verdict, which not only struck down the amended Information Technology Rules but also termed them as “unconstitutional”.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the original petitioners, including stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors’ Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines.
While the CJI refused to stay with the high court’s verdict, he said it would be better if the entire matter was finally decided.
The Bombay High Court on 26 September 2024 formally struck down the amended Information Technology Rules aimed at identifying and regulating fake and untrue content on social media against the government.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, sought a stay on the High Court’s order, saying the government did not intend to “totally block content” but rather to regulate misinformation.
The contentious changes in the IT rules were introduced by the Union government on April 6, 2023, as part of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021.
The regulations directed the FCU to monitor and flag any content perceived to be false or misleading in relation to government activities. If flagged, social media intermediaries could either remove the content or post a disclaimer, risking legal consequences if they chose to do the latter.
