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PIB can fact-check any 'fake news' on the Central government 

The changes were notified on April 6, 2023

 

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) will have the authority to fact-check any "fake, false, or misleading" information about the central government and request that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google remove it under a new regulation. The changes were notified on April 6, 2023 evening through the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, amending the IT Rules, 2021.

Companies will lose their safe harbour status, which protects them from any unlawful or fraudulent content posted by users on their platforms, if they refuse to comply with the PIB fact-check's directive. 

"The idea is not to censor the media. Let me also add that there is no obligation on the intermediaries to take down the content flagged by PIB if they conclude that the fact-check report is erroneous. In this case, they will lose their safe harbour, and the matter will be taken to a court of law.” - Minister of state for IT & electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar