Par panel recommends amending penal provision, mandatory fact-checking system to crack down on fake news

New Delhi: A parliamentary committee has called fake news a "serious threat" to public order and democratic process, and recommended amending penal provisions, increasing fine and fixing accountability to deal with the issue. In its draft report adopted on Tuesday, the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has also called for mandatory presence of fact-checking mechanism and internal ombudsman in all print, digital and electronic media organisations. Sources said the committee has made a raft of suggestions, including a collaborative effort among all stake-holders covering government, private and independent fact-checkers to tackle the challenge of fake news. The committee headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey adopted the report unanimously, showing a cross-party support for stepped-up efforts to handle the menace of fake news, the sources added. "The Committee desire the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to ensure that fact-checking mechanism and internal ombudsman should be made mandatory in all print, digital and electronic media organisations of the country," one of its recommendations said.

The draft report is addressed to the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry as well, as the panel scrutinises this ministry too. The Dubey-led committee has presented its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker, and it is likely to be presented in Parliament during the next session. While asking for assigning accountability to editors and content heads for editorial control, to owners and publishers for institutional failures, and intermediaries and platforms for peddling fake news, it underlined the need for amending penal provisions in existing Acts and rules to crack down on its publication and broadcast. The committee, however, added that this should involve and emerge from a consensus-building exercise among media bodies and relevant stake-holders. In a post on X, Dubey shared a screenshot of an apparently incorrect news targeting the ruling alliance to assert that his committee has submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker its report which has recommended stringent measures against this kind of misinformation. Its call for strict measures, including punishment and ban, also covers other fake news and the misuse of AI to produce content about women and children, he said. "We will not let India to be like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Those running the agenda of anti-national forces to mislead people will be curbed. Any news must be factual," he said. The draft report, the sources said, underlined the committee's opinion that the amount of fine against fake news can be increased to make it deterrent for their creators and publishers.

The panel also noted that ambiguity mars the existing description of misinformation and fake news, and asked the ministry to define it by incorporating suitable clauses in the current regulatory mechanism for print, electronics and digital media. It should be done while “maintaining the delicate balance of combating misinformation and protecting freedom of speech and individual rights as guaranteed under the Constitution”. Flagging fake news with cross-border links and acknowledging complexities involved, the committee has recommended inter-ministerial collaboration at national level and multi-lateral cooperation with international bodies. The government may emulate best practices adopted by other countries, for example the French Law on Election Misinformation and to have a small but a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Task Force to deal with issues related to cross-border misinformation and fake news with representatives from the Information and Broadcasting, External Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology ministries besides legal experts, it said. Advocating close coordination between different ministries to develop concrete legal and technological solutions for identifying and prosecuting individuals and entities responsible for disseminating AI-generated fake news, the committee said AI tools should be leveraged with human oversight to do so. “The committee recommends for Inter-Ministerial coordination for exploring the feasibility of licensing requirements for AI content creators and mandatory labelling of AI-generated videos and content, and apprise them about the action taken in the matter accordingly,” the report said. The committee has also urged the ministries to formulate concrete time-bound grievance redressal framework and implement digital tracking system of the grievances, the sources said. The Committee asked the Ministry to consider, during their consultation with stake-holders, a comprehensive media literacy curriculum which can be designed for the educational journey of a students. Training the teachers, instructors, librarian, etc., at the school level can also be considered. Besides, public awareness campaign, guidelines and frameworks for media literacy are essential for encouraging critical thinking. The Committee may be apprised of the concrete outcome of the deliberations in this regard.

The Ministry may also apprise the Committee about the concrete action taken by the Ministry of Education with respect to the suggestions of PCI for having media studies included in the curriculum for the children. Most of the stakeholders, the committee said, have raised concern over the “safe harbour” clause under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000, which exempts digital platforms from liability from any third-party content subject to certain safeguards. For most of digital news publishers or major social media intermediary platforms, the revenue model is such that the sensational and potentially fake content gets more traction and the algorithms of such platform further amplifies such content, it said. “During examination of the subject, most of the stakeholders expressed their concern related to amplification of fake news through algorithmic biases because this vicious cycle often leads to virality of fake news,” the committee said, urging the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to ensure an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism. The panel endorsed stricter fines, and penalties for repeat offenders, establish independent regulatory body, use technological tools like AI to curb the spread of misinformation to deal with the issue. Unchecked spread of misinformation, particularly fake news, has emerged as a global challenge as it poses a serious threat to public order by triggering strong sentiments and confusion, democratic processes, individual reputation, stock market through insider trading and manipulating the market, and the credibility of media, the draft report has said