NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday accused the government of systematically killing the digital and social media platforms by cunningly changing the information technology rules.
Its spokesman Pawan Khera told a press conference that the government want to be the judge, jury and pronounce judgments on itself, a clear attempt to cut the Oxygen of democracy in the country.
He said the government removes any news from the digital and social media by declaring it as false by the Press Information Bureau. The government wants to misuse the rules under the Information Technology to gag the digital and social media, he added.
IT is no longer information technology but the “Imaging Tailoring” rules for the Modi government, Khera said. He said the government’s concern is to stop any news become the news, be it the Chinese incursion in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, our girls crying over the molestation by the Wrestling Federation or ISRO told not to disclose anything on Joshimath.
Khera said the goal of the government is to suppress the media, first the main stream media by hobnobbing with the media owners. Now, he said, the government is making changes in the IT rules to protect the government’s image and how to suppress the truth. Even while extending comments on the changes in the IT Rules of 2021, the government now wants the online news “fact checked”.
He said the new definition of “fact checking” is to gag the Internet and censor through PIB. While extending up to January 25 the consultation, a provision has been added cunningly that any news found false, baseless or fake by the “fact checking unit” of the PIB shall be removed from the online websites and social media.
He said the new rules make the Modi government itself “judge, jury and executioner” of the online content regulations. He said: “Bulldozing the Press is not new for the Modi Government. The popular term ‘Godi Media’ is now ingrained in the psyche of most Indians, and now this Government wants to make it ‘Godi Social Media’ !”
The amendment in the rules says the platforms “shall make reasonable efforts to cause the user of its computer resource not to post content” that has been “identified as fake or false by the fact check unit at “Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or other agency authorised by the Central Government for fact checking or, in respect of any business of the Central Government.”
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