Consultations are being conducted to bring amendments to the rules for determining fake news, false news and misrepresentation in India. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the consultations are still ongoing and require a lot of deliberation before being enforced. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had recently notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, which confers the power on the ministry to notify a fact-check unit that will identify fake, false or misleading online content with respect to any business of the Union government. Social media intermediaries violating the rules may lose their “safe harbour” immunity. On a separate note, Mr. Rijiju declined to comment on the announcement of the dates for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
It seems that the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju was asked about National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah’s call for unity in the Opposition camp for taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in elections, to which he replied “That shows that the BJP is very strong.” When asked about the timing of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, he did not provide a direct answer and stated that he cannot make announcements on election timings as he is the law and justice minister and the administrative minister of the Election Commission. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju was asked about allegations made by Iltija Mufti, the daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, regarding her passport. In response, Mr. Rijiju said that a passport is issued by the home ministry.