Bombay High Court Overturns IT Norms

• Bombay High Court overturns amended IT Rules, 2023, allowing the Centre to establish a fact check unit (FCU) to identify fake, false, and misleading information on social media.
• Justice Atul Sharachchandra Chandurkar, a “tie-breaker,” ruled the Rules violated Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
• The FCU was established in April 2023 by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEiTY).
• The Rules were criticized for being “arbitrary, violating fundamental rights of speech and expression, and vague.”